Jane Enright - Butter-Side Up: How I Survived My Most Terrible Year and Created My Super Awesome Life

How I SurvivedMy Most Terible Year& Created MySuper Awesome LIfe

JANE ENRIGHT

SHE WRITES PRESS

Copyright 2022, Jane Enright

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, digital scanning, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, please address She Writes Press.

Published 2022

Printed in the United States of America

Print ISBN: 978-1-64742-075-8

E-ISBN: 978-1-64742-076-5

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022901398

For information, address:

She Writes Press

1569 Solano Ave #546

Berkeley, CA 94707

Cover and interior design by Tabitha Lahr

She Writes Press is a division of SparkPoint Studio, LLC.

All company and/or product names may be trade names, logos, trademarks, and/or registered trademarks and are the property of their respective owners.

Names and identifying characteristics have been changed to protect the privacy of certain individuals.

Photo Rich Vintage Photography

For:

Clayton, for giving me encouragement and strength

Jenn, for sharing true friendship and joy

My father, for sharing the gift of humor

Buddy, for staying by my side

and

Mom, Rob, Ross, and Ryan for sharing

their unconditional love and believing in me.

I never had a slice of bread,

Particularly large and wide,

That did not fall upon the floor,

And always on the buttered side!

JAMES PAYN

The question of why a piece of falling toast tends to land butter-side down more often than butter-side up has plagued the human mind for centuries.

For some, the outcome of dropped toast can make the difference between having a good day or a bad one. For instance, you know it is going to be a good day when your toast lands butter-side up; thats because butter-side up can be salvaged. However, if your toast lands butter-side down, you need to start from scratch.

Tumbling toast can also be a metaphor for change. In the blink of an eye, the unexpected can happen. Your life can suddenly be toastbutter-side down, full of icky stuff you dont want anywhere near you. Conversely, you can land butter-side up with possibilities you could never have imagined. Consequently, life puts all of us through change. One might even say life is change.

This begs the question: When the unexpected occurs, how do we successfully navigate change so we can move forward, not backward; make our ideas happen; and land butter-side up in the game of life?

. Wikipedia.org/butteredtoastphenomenon

. Matthews, R.A.J. (1995). Tumbling toast, Murphys Law and the fundamental constants.European Journal of Physics.16 (4): 172176.

The first step to getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are.

J.P. MORGAN

There are essentially two kinds of change: planned and unplanned.

Planned change is a conscious choice or decision. This might include taking a trip, planning to have children, changing your career, moving house, getting your drivers licence, or deciding to lay off the pizza and bulk up on kale salads.

Unplanned change is an unexpected event or consequence of a circumstance. This may include illness, accidents, a layoff, a divorce, or a pandemic. The reality is that life puts all of us through unplanned changeyou know, stuff. Unplanned change can lead to grief, depression, stagnation, indecision, or sadness, and make us question everything we once thought we knew for sure. On the flip side, unexpected change can also open doors; bring us joy, happiness, and excitement; offer new opportunities and experiences; usher in new love and friendships; and build faith, hope, strength, and courage we never knew we had.

I am an ordinary person. I have also been through, and survived, some extraordinary, life-changing events and have come out the other end better than I was before. My life has not always been super-awesome. Some of my experiences, many beyond my control, have been super-awful, pushing me to limits I did not know were possible. This includes enduring and surviving three life-altering, uncontrollable events and losing everything in the span of twelve months. Throughout it all, I was able to look at the lighter side of life and understand that embracing change, staying positive, and having faith are the difference between having a super-rotten life and a super-awesome one.

This book is not about self-help jargon. It is edutainment for the soul. My goal is to inspire and encourage youwith a healthy dose of humour along the wayto successfully navigate change so you can move forward, not backward; make your ideas happen; and create the new and improved storyline of your super-awesome life. Over the course of this book, Ill show you how to

• Find clarity of thought so you can find answers when you need them
• Develop courage to handle things when they are upside down
• Learn to advocate for yourself and others in difficult situations
• Build strength to help you hold on when all you want to do is let go, and let go when all you want to do is hold on
• Create strategies and know-how to successfully maneuver change in your life

Along the way, Ill share stories and ideas to help you find balance and fun, and encourage you to believe in yourself so you can move forward, make your ideas happen, and land butter-side up in the game of life.

Nothing is so painful to the human mind as great and sudden change.

MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT

Everyone is so nice here. I cant remember who anyone is, but youre the nicest and the prettiest.

Ive just arrived at the ICU step-down unit before morning rounds. Im in room fourteen, the one closest to the nursing station, the one with a window.

I smile warmly. I was here yesterday. How are you feeling?

Mr. C was transferred from emergency and has been hospitalized for almost ten days. I take his hand. His arm is swollen and blue, hopefully from unsuccessful IV attempts and not sepsis. His blood pressure is stable but just barely.

I have such a headache. My head hurts so much. Why do I have such a headache?

He has kind, twinkly-blue eyes, a warm smile, and a PhD from a very prestigious business school. On top of that, he is a full-tenured professor and CEO of his own research firm.

Mr. Cs head hurts so much because he experienced two traumatic brain injuries within a forty-eight-hour period. Ten days ago, he was in a car accident, which, unbeknownst to him, caused a small bleed in the front temporal region of his brain when his head hit the steering wheel. Fourteen hours later, Mr. C fell backwards from a standing position onto the concrete cement floor in his garage. The fall caused his brain to ricochet to the left, then right, with severe bleeding on both sides.