Hebbel or Hegel? That is the question.... (aka Mean Guy Story I)

So here I am just trying to enjoy my blessings, espouse joy, happiness, peace and love.... and then along comes mean people trying to shake me out of my bubble of happiness. That's just so sad!

I guess that's why people blog, though, right? So I can vent with my keyboard, pretending that no one will ever read it, yet deep down getting significant enjoyment out of the fact that I know someone just might possibly read it! I don't want to be one of those negative people, that the only thing they can talk about is how this is bad and that is bad (ummmm.....yeah... I know quite a few of them!). But at the same time, there is a proven psychological benefit to venting (within reason). See, the actual act of talking (and I do believe typing - although maybe I'm stretching it) releases dopamine. We all know what dopamine is, right? The feel good hormone that opiates actually mimic. That's why therapy and counseling always seem to help. It's not that the therapist gives you any great magical solution, it's that you were able to sit and talk for 60 minutes, not be interrupted, and feel ok in doing so. Notice, they never solve your problem, they just listen and let you talk yourself through it. DOPAMINE! (glad to know my undergraduate degree in Psychology taught me something!)

So here's my dopamine release for the day....

Scenario One:
If you know me at all, there's one word that signifies what I'm all about: PASSION. I love the word, I love what it means, I love what it exemplifies. To me, if you're going to do something, give it all you got and do it with passion. Be committed. Be on-fire. I'm passionate about being a good mom, about being a good wife, about my companies, about my relationships, and most of all, about Him! (Thus the name of my blog: Belinda's Passion... and the name of my companies: Passionate Excellence and Passionate Project Management).

For years, the quote I've loved is Hebbel's quote: Nothing great in this world is accomplished without passion. The first time I saw it it was on a church marquis, and it just stuck. I learned about Hebble - he was a German poet and playwright and had quite a few quote-worthy sayings. So it seemed natural to me to put that quote on our webpages. I want our clients to know we are behind them 110%. We are passionate about their success and will go above and beyond.

Needless to say, I like to leverage technology and always seek to grow, learn, improve. I posted a discussion item on a LinkedIn group for PMP-certified project managers. This means that the members have already passed their exam, thus they are not potential clients of ours. I asked a few questions about how they selected their PMP prep course, what sold them on it, what was most important, etc. so that we could focus our business communications, etc. Most people on LinkedIn are open to sharing insights.

I was completely taken aback when I received an email as a result of that posting. It said:
"I always look for someone with a quote from Hegel (not Hebble) on their home page. Really, you should fix that. JD "

Of course, my first thought was to question myself. Did I really have it wrong all of these years? But, everything I found on the Internet said Hebbel. Now there were a few things that did say Hegel... but majority seems to rule. I sent back a nice reply that Christian Hebbel was the owner of the quote, we liked it and were going to keep it as-is. Was that wrong of me to reply?

So it had me thinking, and I checked out JD's LinkedIn profile. I was shocked to find out that he was a VP of membership for his local Project Management Institute (PMI) chapter. In addition, he's also a PMP instructor. Of course, my mind starts to wander..... and I'm thinking:

• Did he seriously just go to our site to pick it apart and that's what he came up with?
• Why would he take the energy to check a site and then take the time to email us with that comment?
• Is he insecure? Does he think I'm competition? (Duh- that's a PMP group, there are no potential clients on there)
• Why? Why? Why?
• If he had given us some other constructive criticism or responded to the original questions on the posting, I could see it. You know a "PS - your quote is credited to the wrong guy". But to just say it?
• Is he right? Is Hegel the guy and the rest of the Internet is wrong?

I am a big enough woman to admit when I'm wrong, so PLEASE, if you know for sure who said it, please let me know and I will update our site. In the meantime, thank you. I just needed a dopamine release over that situation.