performers – mywarriorwritings.com

You will see another selfie below. Honestly, it was not intentional but had to be used today because the pic of me fits more than a pic of Warrior. 2 months in a row~ I would not have guessed. 🤷🏻‍♀️

This is a *BRAND NEW* story I’m sharing with you readers today as nobody in all these years has heard it, NOBODY. It’s worth sharing because well, you will know soon enough. It came to my thinking so I decided to make it a post today. I hope you enjoy so get comfy because this match might be longer than our usual time together. Load the spaceship with that rocket fuel warriors because we are blasting off. 🚀

I’m going to “introduce” you to a few friends from my past. Some names were changed to protect their identity and their story is edited for content. It’s like a movie which states: “ based on actual events” or “ inspired by a true story.” You get the idea. Now with that being out of the way, here it is.…*** Amanda was a woman I knew back in the early ‘90s who had an almost 13 year-old daughter, Michelle. She was a single mother trying to make ends meet. After getting pregnant in high school by her boyfriend Dave, they did remain together~~~ for a bit. Shortly after graduation, he enlisted in the military and was killed during training. So horrible, isn’t it? Michelle had no memories of her Dad and her grandparents lost their only child. 😓

Over the years, Amanda got help in raising her little girl from both sets of parents while she attended college and held down a job. She was lucky to be so supported. She did date a few guys but nobody that important worth introducing to Michelle. It was the 2 of them mostly and they became inseparable. Years passed and Amanda wanted to think of something extra special for Michelle’s 13th birthday. It was well known how her daughter loved performing in school plays, drama, and all that so she needed it to involve her love of acting in a way. Michelle loved TV, the movies, theater, and all stuff similar but in particular one guy on a favorite show of hers. I for one knew not to tease her because of my past in that area! 🤭

Amanda had seen how this actor would be performing locally near their town very soon ( as he did many things) so that was the perfect b-day gift. No reality shows or podcasts then people! She got tickets and surprised Michelle by going backstage to meet her hero, Nick. Her daughter’s emotions were ecstatic! Michelle‘s photos of him on her walls had turned into reality as she and her mom made their way after the performance to Nick’s dressing room. Amanda was so happy her daughter could experience this once in a lifetime milestone. She hadn’t truly followed Michelle’s interests the same but respected her girl for honoring them. They both meet Nick and he can’t take his eyes off Amanda despite the birthday girl’s dream coming true. Can you guess where this is going? 💘

I know it sounds cliché but I was happy too when Nick and Amanda started dating. Despite his busy work schedule, he found time to spend with both girls. Michelle imagined her “crush” becoming her stepdad. Only natural, right? After a whirlwind romance~~~it DID happen as several months later, they were married and then a year later Nick adopted Michelle. Parents questioned the validity but Nick proved to them all his true love for Amanda and Michelle. I gotta say this too~~~the song they used for their wedding dance was one of my favorites mentioned on here years ago! I have it on my playlist. They even had fireworks outside at their reception, so cool!🎆🎇

Their romance lasted and then after a few more years, Nick’s schedule became more part-time all while Amanda was pregnant with twins. They had a beautiful life together and I kept in touch with them all. Fast-forward about 10 years or so, with Michelle now engaged and about to graduate college. Time surely flew by, that is for sure. Her Dad danced the Father/ Daughter dance 🥹 at Michelle’s reception when afterwards, it was her time to be with a man of her new dreams. Amanda and the twins danced on the side as Nick beamed happily at this girl, now almost young woman he got to help finish raising. A year later, Amanda and Nick became grandparents and Michelle’s siblings were now an aunt and uncle.

I will stop there because this can get quite lengthy with their lives if I don’t. I know you are thinking: “ what in the world, this has nothing to do with Warrior!” Here’s where I will make the connection, finally right? Whether or not you are a fan of pro wrestling, TV, the movies, or anything~~~don’t you get hooked into a storyline of sorts? Of course you do. How can you not? All that has a way of bringing our emotions to the surface and identifying with the characters. For me, yep this is absolutely true of all that I watch or even read in books. With Warrior~~~ it was no different. As a teen I watched, followed, and got “roped” in with all the content and then later on, once again watching him resurface. The story of Amanda, Michelle, and Nick is the same. Did you feel involved with me sharing their lives? I bet in some way you did just like knowing details about others over the years. I remembered all those specifics to share with you like they never left my memory, similar to Warrior’s return coming back, never forgotten.

If you ARE still with me, as I hope you are, here’s the end dear reader. The match is over~ ding, ding, ding. 🛎️ To preface, I do hope to not offend or belittle you in any fashion but just to prove my creative point. Are you curious about what happened to Amanda, Michelle, and Nick? WELL…, they were *CREATED* by me and my imagination when in my early 20s. Yep, MOSTLY all made up (not everything though…) which has remained with me still 30+ years later. So sorry, but did I get you? I wasn’t trying to trick but again~to share and prove how one can get into a storyline with fascinating characters. To think I didn’t even know I was a writer then~~~ nope, too oblivious. 🤦🏻‍♀️

I still think I could’ve been a soap opera writer or romance novelist. Hallmark channel? Maybe in a past life? 🤔I hope you didn’t get too attached to my “story” but it was my favorite of all the ones I invented during my younger days of relaying ideas out of my head. For the most part, my work is non-fiction (naturally) but sometimes I actually do come up with a cast and go with it. It’s sort of like imagining a WWE Superstar and rebranding as time goes on. I think of those 3 Superstars sometimes and laugh at my humble beginnings. Never would I have thought they’d impact me as much, just like someone else I know too did and still does… 💙

P.S. Try creating your own cast of characters for a story, if only in your mind. No need to share, but who knows where it will take you? We all deserve a happy ending because realistically~~~ not everyone will get one.

P.P.S. Again, so sorry loyal readers for that “letdown” if you felt that way. Here’s my advice though. Read a book and you might find your own escape with an Amanda, Michelle, or Nick. NO….., they were not taken from a book.. Oh, and I rarely came up with a whirlwind romance. That’s not for me, but we need to step outside that comfort zone or familiar wrestling arena.

*** AND~~~ believe it or not, Amanda and Nick *WERE* based on two real people as I just embellished their journey together. See, not entirely fabricated! 💞

Hey warriors… Have you ever felt pressured to perform in front of a crowd? Of course. All of us have at least a few times in our lives. Giving speeches in school, acting in plays, singing, dancing, and yes- even wrestlers like the Ultimate Warrior. Was your performance based on a requirement, want, or pressure from others? Perhaps it’s a combination of all those. The Ultimate Warrior felt that pressure as many of his former colleagues jumped “rings” from WWE to WCW back then. Yes, he was paid well for a short time period but still wanted to incorporate new ideas into their Nitro program. Such pressure indeed.

The pressure can be good although many times we view it as bad. Maybe it’s the word itself. Sometimes we may even feel like we are in a pressure cooker and our performance either pops or fizzles out. It is very different for those involved in fame but again, we always have choices. Just showing up and performing at life is our best with or without anyone else thinking so. We may have to do things we truly don’t want to so the pressure is upon us. It’s all in how we handle it even when making sacrifices.

Think about anytime in your life where you had to make a decision on how to handle pressure. I can think of many. It doesn’t have to be physically performing let’s say in front of an audience but maybe something different. Standing up to a bully can be pressure but not performing exactly. It could even be arguing your point of view against another even though you don’t want to hurt feelings. There will always be consequences despite the best efforts but our free will determines the outcome. One day perhaps you’ll look back and know that pressure made you perform and without it, you never would – at least not in the same way.

I do and love a lot of activities but sometimes feel the need to conform based on pressure from others or what they do. It happens to us all. We may conform but then we may not. Our job shouldn’t depend on it but in some cases it seems to. If you find yourself in that situation, look for the best and perform positively despite pressure. If you really can’t, you’ll know how it affects you and others.

Warrior felt the pressure of performing his character with how wrestling always was in regards to gimmicks and such. He may have caved to some storylines but resisted the pressure to do things always in the business way.

The same can be said for all of us only with differing aspects. None of us parents the exact same way and yet we feel pressure to perform like all the others. We don’t do anything like another but that word of pressure always remains. How we perform under it is the main event.

Many times did I find myself caving to pressure to please or simply just to get it over with. I may still as some situations aren’t worth the fight as much but when it truly counts, I don’t cave. It is so much harder to withstand that pressure but your performance will be worth it. At least I hope it is for you. The easy road isn’t always the better one and you will be stronger for having that courage under pressure.

Some people like how Warrior was caved under pressure to prove to themselves mostly that they will follow thru. Not everything has to be a battle but if it is, win it the best even if under pressure to do so. Once he stepped away from that performing, pressure still remained for him but in new opportunities. He would always say striving to be more creative kept him going. While continuing to motivate or inspire others, his performance became less about the physical and more about the mental.

Our performances in life will sometimes fail or sometimes get standing ovations. Even if you don’t hear “BRAVO!” (not Dino, wrestling fans…) or see a sign cheering you on, know your pressure doesn’t have to be so big. Doing your best with what you’ve got is good enough to earn respect and should. We don’t need a wrestling arena, T.V. set, or movie screen to know performers as they are around us everyday. It’s in you, me, and everyone you meet. There will always be pressure in every area of your life but perform to be happy and the rest will come. If you are loving who you are and what you do, others will give that BRAVO or anything deserving.

We owe it to ourselves not to let the pressure of performing take over lest we lose why we are really us. Receive all that life has to offer but take the pressure off sometimes. Let’s just be performers enjoying our lives because they are ours to OWN. You are a warrior just like me. Be gentle with yourself, we need that more. 💜🙋🏻‍♀️💙

www.spiritandbelief.com

*** Find me also ⬆️ where I have my book info on Warrior. Yep, I began to trust my intuition more after he passed and I shared my experiences. Check it out… 📗

***Also, you will find a spiritually centered blog around more in depth topics for those that seek to go further. I am also on Twitter, YouTube, and Pinterest (:

Tag: performers

Blast from the Past 🩷

The Pressure to Perform