Insipiring Tattoos - Lisa Marr

Tats

It wasn't noticeable right away, but I am glad I saw this one day last year during a weekend jaunt to an OB Cues Tournament. Lisa Marr, OB Cues Tour Champion for the last two years, has a tattoo on each of her wrists. She has some more tats, but I want to talk about these two specific ones today.

When I first started this blog entry, it was going to be about her tats. Now, it's going to be about Lisa. :)

Lisa, doing her favorite thing!

Lisa is one of those rare individuals you run across in life that you will always remember. She has graced the Ladies Tour in Texas since the late 1990s. Many peeps in Texas know this, but others don't: She lives in Little Rock, Arkansas and attends every OB Cues Ladies Tour in Texas and Ok - that's a lot of driving folks!!

Lisa won 3 stops in a row on the OB Cues Ladies Tour (back then called the Hunter Classics Tour) at the end of 2002. Then she had a stint on the WPBA Tour as a WPBA Touring Pro. While we all knew she had the skills, determination, and talent to get her on the Pro Tour, she told me once she was able to reach that dream because the OB Cues Tour provided the avenue. She is a very gracious and thankful person!

Lisa now is a regular in the top 3 of the OB Cues Tour, capturing at least 1 tournament every year since 2005 when she was able to play on the Regional Ladies Tour again after she stopped competing with the Pros. In 2008, she captured the all-allusive OB Cues Tour Champion title earning the most points that year. She followed 2009 with the same result (not an easy feat)!

Lisa has a big heart even though she acts tough at times; she is very determined in her goals but never forgets to thank people for their efforts; she loves her family and friends; and knows how to have a good time.

Lisa got these two tattoos after her second divorce in 2006. They are Chinese symbols representing Strength and Courage. The "Strong" tattoo is on her stroking arm and the "Courage" tattoo is on her bridge arm.

Personal tattoos

I asked Lisa why she got the tattoos. Lisa started to tell me her story: She said she sat down one night in silence for hours and replayed all her relationships throughout her life. Lisa explained, "It helped me to realize that I was in most of those relationships for all the wrong reasons. So I knew that I would need to be strong & have courage to stop the cycle of a lifetime of wrong decisions. So I thought the tattoos were very appropriate for that reason."

Lisa, then, (of course!) thought about how the game of pool has effected her life. "It really, at times, was the only thing in this world that made me strong & to have courage to keep on going," Lisa says. "I knew no one could take THAT from me. The kind of unconditional love you get from your parents (in my case, My mom). Having the pleasure of taking care of two kids, growing to love them & then to only have to take them home after the weekend really tore me up. There were times that we had full custody when their mother couldn't "afford" them to only once again be ripped from my arms. So the tug of war with the kids really played on me. I wanted to be a Mom but better yet I wanted to be THEIR Mom. So pool helped me to fill that empty void." Lisa added, "Wow, thinking about all this is making me emotional....lol. How far I have come and how I have come out on top during some of the most trying times in my life."

Lisa loves pool with all her heart; it's her passion. Other than for her family, kids or grandbabies, she wouldn't give up pool for anything or anyone. "I don't really think I could quit even if I wanted to," Lisa reflects. "You are born to do something and I think that Pool is my something. "

"So pool essentially helped me get through some really tough times & kept me from going crazy," Lisa shares. When she was upset or down she could just go hit some balls and didn't think about anything else. " I didn't use pool to run from my problems but instead it helped calm me down so that when I went back to "reality" I had a better perspective," Lisa says.

She put the 'Strong' tattoo on her stroking arm & the 'Courage' tattoo on her bridge arm. "My strength is always behind me and you need courage to more forward. So my stroking arm is always behind me & my courage, bridge hand, is always in front of me" she explained. Lisa does use them during matches also: "when I start screwing up I use them to tell myself that I am strong and to have the courage to regroup myself & play better." When Lisa is looking down during a match, she's not getting down on myself. She admits, "I am pumping myself up by looking at my tattoos! Someone once commented to me that I look like I am giving up when I look down. I thought to myself 'got you fooled then' lol."

Last but most important, Lisa thought about the below prayer in the decision to get these very personal and profound tattoos. Lisa explains, "wisdom comes from being strong and overcoming your tribulations. You need courage to overcome future obstacles, also. My Grandparents had a bible in their living room and it was always opened to this prayer. So it has always stuck with me:"

God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
the courage to change the things I can;
and the wisdom to know the difference.

"So when I put my hands together to pray, those are right there to remind me that God is the one who gives us our strength & courage to keep on living life to the fullest potential and that he has it all under control" Lisa said. She has a wonderful look on life. She adds, "you just have to learn when you are going through tough times that it's his plan for you and you will learn something from it and become a better person. He gave us the gift of life and what I do with my life is my gift to him."

Lisa shared with me that by asking her questions about her tattoos and her having to answer them, "you have helped me to realize that I am getting to the place in my life that I have always wished for myself. Thanks! He works in mysterious ways, he does!"

Here's Lisa goofing off.

The Serious Lisa

I want to thank Lisa for taking the time to share her story. It will hit home with a lot of people.