Helping Others Through My Blog

I started my blog for myself.  It was easier to type online than write out my thoughts on paper.  It became my new pool journal.

Eventually I opened up my blog to a few friends.  Then they suggested I open it to the world (lol).  I was very hesitant, but eventually did.

But, what has happened through sharing my learning experiences is, a lot of tips, learning experiences, tough lessons, or key lessons other players are reading about.

It is so freaking cool when someone mentions my blog, or one of my topics, or something I wrote about.

But what makes me most happy is to see that my LONG pool journey and sometimes tough learning experiences, others are learning from.  I can profess certain things til I'm blue in the face, but when people act on it and work on things little 'ole me mentions, I get super tickled!

It took me 20 years to be the competitive player I am today.  I am thankful to help others through the pool journey we are all on together!

The reason I share all this today is because a fellow player from the Internet World reached out to me again and emailed me this:

One of the things you mention in your columns is about getting experience in more events to help you with your game, particularly the mental side. 

This past weekend we had a local 'fun' mini tournament. There were three person teams and each person played a game against one player on another team. It drew a different crowd than our normal tournaments. It was more casual but teams still playing their best. My team came out 2nd of 16 groups. It was non-handicapped. I'm glad to have that experience.  

This coming weekend I'm stepping out of my element though. Going to play 9-ball in an out of town tourney, handicapped. I'm a 5 (5 lives matter) and I know there will be a number of 8s and 9s in the tourney as well. We have four 8s from my league going and I was talking about it with them and thought you know what? this is exactly the kind of step I need in my game to keep improving. But without the confidence I see you speak of in your posts, I wouldn't be sure that I'd be ready for this. But I'm going to go there and do my very best and not fret over results. 

Wish me luck and thanks for the inspiration!

Made my whole month!  :)  It's very crazy that I might be an inspiration to others or that "without the confidence I see you speak of in your posts, I wouldn't be ready for this.... "

Wow, just wow.

Speechless.