6 Week Follow up at Doctor

I had my 6 week follow up at the doctor's office today for my knee. He says that the progress is good, my knee is healing well. However, there's still a little fluid around the knee and the knee tends to be stiff if left in one place too long. So he said that that will subside over the next 4-6 weeks, and to come back in 6 weeks and we'll re-evaluate my knee.

So far so good.....it's a slow moving process, but the doctor is pleased with the healing progress thus far!

Remember......"You're Worth It!"

J. Earl Smith

www.knourworth.blogspot.com

@JSmith2523 on Twitter

knourworth@hotmail.com

The Miracle of Life

We went to the doctor again this past Tuesday, and I have to admit, I almost cried. That's kind of hard for a man of my stature to admit, but in all honesty....I'm not ashamed to admit it. For the first time during my wife's pregnancy I was able to hear my unborn child's heart beat.

Hearing that heart beat for me made everything that much more real for me. At the same time, it made me question how anyone, male or female, could ever abandon their child, a part of themselves? Who could ever actually do that? The creation of a baby is one of the most beautiful things in the world, and for anyone to NOT be touched by that is beyond me.

Being a man who grew up without his father's presence in the home, without receiving so much as a single phone call in the 26 years I've been alive, it amazes and appauls me even more than ever that someone can turn their back on their own flesh and blood! I've always vowed to be there for my child regardless of whatever possibly happens between their mother and me, but now after hearing that heartbeat, and seeing what I've helped create, how could I ever turn my back on my child? Turning my back on my child would be like not caring about myself, because that's me growing inside my wife's stomach right now. I have no doubt in my mind, that even though I didn't have even a mediocre example of what it takes to be a father in my life, that I'm always going to be there for my child.....NO MATTER HOW DIFFICULT THINGS MAY GET!!!

This is the newest sonogram of my unborn little one.

Remember.....You're Worth It!

J. Earl Smith

@JSmith2523 on Twitter

Florida Classic Weekend

This weekend marks a very popular weekend around the city of Orlando....It's Florida Classic Weekend. That means that the clubs and bars will be packed out this weekend. There's nothing wrong with going out and having a good time. But, (and this is to the fellas out there).....let's be respectful toward the women of Orlando and the surrounding area. This is not a pitch for guys to show respect for this particular weekend....this is just the weekend that many guys can start to change their ways toward the ladies.

It irritates and frustrates me as a young black man to see so many other young black men treating black women like they aren't one of the most beautiful creatures that God ever created! Try starting a conversation with a woman, listen to what she's saying, look into her eyes and not at her cleavage. I can say from personal experience that starting a conversation with a woman and actually listening to what she's saying is far more appealing from a females standpoint than you come up behind her and grinding on her.

Try ASKING her if she wants to dance!!!! And if she says "NO"....move on....there's no need to be ignorant or disrespectful. I've never understood why a dude would feel the need to scream on a girl, or disrespect her if she didn't want to dance with you.....that's laughable and shows how really INSECURE a lot of these "so called" players really are!!!!

So I'll end this little rant with this.....

REAL MEN don't disrespect women! Little boys do! And anyone who disagrees with what I've stated here.....I really DON'T CARE!!!! I'm voicing my opinion, and you don't have to like it!!!! I've just come to realize that we'll never stop being portrayed as ignorantly as a people until we decide to change things for ourselves....NO ONE is going to do it for us!!!!!

Try starting this weekend. Go out....enjoy yourself, treat each woman that you interact with respectfully....and see if things don't end up better!!!!

Remember......You're Worth It!

J. Earl Smith
@JSmith2523 on Twitter
knourworth@hotmail.com
www.smashwords.com/books/view/24495

Knee Feeling Better

For all of those who've wished me well....I sincerely appreciate it.

My knee is feeling much better over the last few days. Got a new smaller brace for my knee that still provides stability and support....but isn't as bulky as the one I got at the emergency room. My doctor told me that full recovery will take about 8-10 weeks...because of the severity of the ligament sprain....but I don't think it'll take that long. I should be back to at least 90% in the next 4-6 weeks.

I'll keep you all informed as my progress continues to improve.

Remember....You're Worth It!

J. Earl Smith
@JSmith2523 on Twitter
knourworth@hotmail.com

Knee News

Finally received a diagnosis this morning regarding the injury to my left knee. I'm happy to say that there is NO TEAR in any ligament in my knee. I have 2 severe bone bruises surrounding my knee, a little bit of cartilidge damage, and a severe sprain to the medial collateral ligament (MCL). The bruises are shown by the lightened areas pointed out by the arrows.

So that means......sore to the touch and moderate pain.....but NO SURGERY REQUIRED!!!! This was quite a scare for me, especially since, I can barely put full weight on the knee still. But I'm relieved that I won't need to have surgery, and I won't even need to go through any kind of rehab for it. Although, I'm planning on doing my own rehab starting in the next few weeks. The doctor said about 6-8 weeks before my knee starts to feel normal again, so I'm going to give it another two weeks or so, before I start trying to exercise my knee to strengthen it again.

Even once the knee is strong again, and I feel no pain or discomfort.....my tackle football days are over! I'm switching full time to golf....besides....I'm getting too old for this stuff!!! In the same game where I hurt my knee, a few other people got hurt too....one friend of mine had a severe high ankle sprain....the other tore his rotator cuff. So I think it's VERY appropriate to end my football career now....before another more serious injury can happen.....next time I won't be as fortunate to get off without needing surgery.

Remember.........You're Worth It.

J. Earl Smith
knourworth@hotmail.com
@JSmith2523 on Twitter

Football Days Over????

It's unfortunate, but yes.....my days of playing football are now OVER! Saturday I had a game with my boys and everything was going well until I rolled out of the pocket and attempted to shake an oncoming defender....I planted my left foot to cut left and my left knee went right....with a LOUD POP!!!! I don't know what the official diagnosis is yet, but the first doctor after seeing no structural damage to my knee, said it's more likely ligament damage. She thinks I've either torn my MCL, PCL, or Meniscus.






So I'm seeing an orthopedic surgeon tomorrow morning and he'll be able to give me a conclusive answer after the mri as to what's happened.





I always said that I'd have to have a serious injury in order to stop playing, but I never thought the injury would actually happen. Well now it has and I must hang up my jersey and my cleats and retire. I'll just take the knowledge I have to the sidelines and impart it to others. That's right.....I'm trading in my cleats for a whistle. Besides.....I have a child on the way....and I can't be all broken down by the time they're old enough to want to play outside with dad....so now is the best time to hang it up. Besides....I'm not getting paid for this....and the pain I'm in....is NOT worth it!!!!

BE SMART!!!!

TAKE CARE OF YOURSELVES!!!!

I'll post the diagnosis once I finish at the doctor tomorrow morning.

Remember............."You're Worth It".



J. Earl Smith
knourworth@hotmail.com
@JSmith2523 on Twitter

Common Misconceptions About Men

Ladies.....I'm going to break the "man-code" a little bit and clue you all in on something. Ultimately, men want the same things in life & love as you do. Not everyone is going to agree with this or like what I have to say....but you can't please all the people all the time.

Men really do want the same things as women. They just tend to want them at a little different pace than women usually do. They say that women mature sooner than men do, and I'd have to agree with that. That's why it kills me when I see beautiful women involved in the game playing that young men (young in mentality) do. Men do want the same things, but we usually want them after we've gotten all the "play" out of our system. It's not really fair for us to ask a woman to wait for us to have all that "player" feel out of our system, but in essence that's what us men do on a regular basis.

It saddens me to see so many beautiful women saying there aren't any good men out there, when there are literally millions of them if you just look in the right places. Men may get mad at me for this but, you're typically not going to find Mr. Right or Prince Charming in a crowded club. This is one of the first mistakes that I see with people in general. Everyone thinks that the "movie scene" is going to literally come true for them. You all know what I mean....guy sees girl from across the club, their eyes meet, they drift toward each other, dance, kiss, and that night they fall in love and spend the rest of their lives together.

Let's get that misconception out of the way right now. Clubs are hunting ground to men, not a place where they're going to find true love. Men go to clubs for one of two reasons....1) They genuinely wanted to hear some good music or 2) They're looking for a girl they can have some "fun" with. Sad to say, but it's usually the latter. Men don't usually care about the music in a club, they go because that's where the women are. I can tell you from a lot of the guys I grew up with, most guys plans and intentions is to buy a girl drinks until she's tipsy enough to throw caution to the wind and make a bad decision and go home with them. Why do you think that most men in the club just come up behind a woman and start grinding on her? NO RESPECT!!!! But what do you expect from young minded individuals who's forethought goes no further than who they'll be taking home that night.

Ladies....is this the kind of guy you want? I don't think it is! However, that's what most women put up with consistently. (We'll discuss those types of men in depth in a future blog) If women would demand that they be respected, men would have no choice and would have to show more respect. And a more respectful man is always something that a lady would like to have. This is not to say that all men are like this currently.....but it is safe to say that at some point and time they were like this. So ladies what you need to do is go other places. Try meeting people in other public places. A lounge might be a better place to find a mature guy who's done with the game playing. Before anyone says it, lounges aren't the same as clubs. They're usually less crowded and the music isn't as loud, which can lend to better opportunities to hold conversation. Which is the best way to begin getting to know someone. My advice....ladies, leave the club for a while. They're cool for an eventful night out, but not ideal for finding/cultivating a relationship.

As I was saying before, men do want the same things. You just have to make sure that they're not young in mind. Notice I didn't say anything about their age. This is because age really doesn't mean anything. It's someones mentality that determines whether they're "too young" or not. I know plenty of people who were mature at 19/20 and ready for a committed relationship. I'm one of them....I'm almost 26 and have been happily married for almost 4 years now....meaning I got married at 22. People told me I was too young, but mentally I was ready. We've been committed for almost 6 years (we dated for 1 year and were engaged for 1 year before getting married) and neither of us has ever strayed....why? Because we both had the same mindset and were both mature and ready for that level of commitment.

Regardless of what guys say to their friends, deep down inside every guy want to have that special someone at some point in their life. Deep down inside every man fears being that "old creepy" guy in the club, who looks like he's still living in the 70's, trying to pick up 20 somethings. Seeing him is always the cure-all when we think we want to stay single.

Men do get bored going on date after date and not really feeling any connection. There's no substance there and that's what loses our attention another thing that causes us to lose interest is if we're allowed too much affection too soon. If a guy gets "it" on the first night....chances are he's not going to call you in the morning. Even though we say we will.....we won't because we have nothing more to aspire to with that girl. Guys like mystery, although we'll never openly admit it, we like when a girl plays hard to get. We like it when we have to work for a girl. In the infamous words of Tupac Shakur: "hate to sound sleazy, but tease me, I don't want it if it's that easy."

Guys get tired of telling the same old stories again and again to a new prospect. It's not a funny story after you've told it for the 30th, 40th, 50th time. That generic conversation gets quite boring and men, just like women....DO NEED and are looking for a deeper connection. Most men really want to be monogamous, however, most of them don't have the intestinal fortitude to do so. The media portrays a "successful" man as living a flashy lifestyle and bedding many women and people feed into that as what the norm should be. Deep down inside though, most men don't agree with that stereotype and would actually prefer a serious committed relationship with one person that they can share their hopes and dreams with. It just takes more men to start standing up and acting on what they truly feel is right, and things just might take a turn for the better.

Most men do want families. They do want their name to live on, they do want to build a legacy, they do want children to carry on their names. Most men just don't want to start thinking about that as soon as they're in a relationship. It's not wrong to talk about it, at least to make sure you're both on the same page....but wait a little while before doing so. Talking about it too soon makes most men think that a woman's biological clock is ticking and that they'll be looking to get pregnant REAL soon.

Like I said before, a lot of people won't agree with everything I've said here. But that's their right. I'm just voicing my opinion and trying to help people wake up and realize the mistakes a lot of us make and the misconceptions we have about the opposite sex.

Remember......You're Worth It.

J. Earl Smith
@JSmith2523 on Twitter
knourworth@hotmail.com
www.smashwords.com/books/view/24495