On the Mend

Hey guys! I've been wanting to write a blog about this last couple of weeks. I was getting ready to leave for my Black Widow Experience clinic that I hold here in Indy. I love teaching. I love sharing my knowledge of the fundamentals, the perfect stroke, the strategies of 9ball and 8ball, and most of all, the mental game. I started doing it so that I can do what I love, right from my home town. On this last Monday, I was heading down the stairs with a load of laundry and somehow slipped. I landed right on my tailbone and basically bumped my tailbone over and over again down the stairs. I even had to cancel an APA Black Widow Tour exhibition in Tulsa that we had been promoting for months! Horrible feeling! The only time I can remember this much pain at one given time was giving birth to Savannah. I really thought I broke it. It turns out that it was simply bruised. I'm still sore, but in much better condition, physically but also, mentally. In my exhibitions, I always start off talking about my life, my history and my lessons learned. One of the main lessons is what I learned about how to overcome obstacles and how to be brave. I am considered a very strong person. I can tell you, I rarely feel strong. What you are doesn't always match what you feel. Even in this last week, it was a real struggle to stay positive. Being strong doesn't mean you go through life unafraid or without doubts or sadness. It means getting up each day, even when you don't feel like it, and set goals in your mind and doing a little bit each day towards your dreams, whether or not, you even know that they can be accomplished. I want to be a great mom, a better Christian, a good wife to my husband and win more championships and get on top again. I'm near the top, but I'm not where I want to be. I want to work towards it every day. I want to be productive each day. Sometimes, I just don't feel like it....and that's ok. It's human. It's normal to go through your ups and downs. But even more normal than that, is to let those emotions get the best of you, put you in a stand still, focusing on what you don't have, what you can't do and why it probably won't happen for you. Well, I'm not normal. I'm special and you can be too. All you need to do, is not give up. Just keep going forward, regardless of the bad days. Believe in yourself, even if no one else does. Do things for you and ENJOY the journey. Don't just be result oriented. Know that you are headed in a positive direction and praise yourself for each step you cross. I've been pretty tired this week. I try to see the positive in things when I feel bad. NOT easy to do. I'm fortunate to have friends and fans that help me up when I feel down. But it wasn't always that way and it might not be that way for you. Everything I say won't guarantee you'll be a lot happier but I can guarantee that if you live your life feeling sorry for yourself and doing things according to what others think you can or can't do, I can GUARANTEE you'll be unhappy! This week, I'm grateful for this unexpected time that I have to rest more than I usually rest, spend more focused time with my kids, organized my house more and study more about my pool game than I would normally sit still enough to do. I'm grateful to see how many friends and fans who love me, my family at the APA that love me and sent me flowers, my mother in law who came over to take care of me, and that, in the end, my body looks like it'll be ok. I have a chance to take a better look at my goals this year and make sure I'm really spending time to put towards them while also taking care of my responsibilities. I lost a lot of practice time this week and time at the gym. I cried feeling sorry for myself twice. But I keep going. I had to be more careful about my diet and my schedule the next couple of weeks since I have a tournament in 12 days. I have had to depend on others even more. But you know what? It's all going to be ok bc I'm going to keep on moving forward through the rain....knowing that there's sunshine in my very near future....after all, I can guarantee it! Love you....Jeanette