About Jeannie Bauer

A Fulfilled Life
By most accounts, people would say that I've been successful in my life. I've had a great career that I enjoyed -- I've traveled the world -- I have two great kids -- and I am the recent owner of a beautiful horse property (complete with several horses) that fulfills my life's dream. But please understand, I don't mention these things to brag. Rather, I believe these riches of life have come to me as a result of both: i) a good education and good fortune, and ii) my ability and determination to perservere when life has knocked me down. And don't doubt it for a moment -- I've had my share of major knock-outs in my time!

I'd like to share some of my life's setbacks with you in order to illustrate the kinds of problems we all face from time to time. So when I write my blog entries and articles, you'll know they come from an authentic place in my heart and mind. Here are some of the knock-outs that I've survived:

The Financial Black Hole
When I was only about 28, I remember driving down the street in a panic thinking about my financial status. At that moment, I honestly could not see how I would ever recover from the level of debt I had built up. I'm not talking about the usual financial stress we all feel at some times; rather, that very moment is as fresh in my mind today as it was when I first experienced it due to the depth of despair I was feeling. I truly felt that there was no way out. To tell you the truth, since this occurred a number of years ago, today I don't remember how much debt I had, why it seemed so insurmountable, or how I ended up resolving the situation. But I do know that I sold my townhouse at the time, bought a condominium that I liked much better, and ending up making $50,000 on the condo within only about 18 months.

The Career Political Trainwreck
In my career, I was always an over-achiever and was very successful because of it. At least this was true until the day that a new executive-level boss was appointed, and I ended up on the wrong side of his view of political-correctness in the organization. (Oh, I get it... now our primary goal is to get more goodies for the boss instead of doing better for the customers!... But the real question is why so many of my peers were able to easily make this transition? So much for personal integrity in corporate America!) Needless to say, I was trashed, demoted, put aside, and left to die (in a corporate sort of way). I can honestly say that I have never felt more personally betrayed than at that time in my life. I was emotionally crushed for weeks, possibly even months. Eventually, I accepted that I should look for a new job, and guess what happened? Well, I still had the same great credentials and work ethic that had always helped me succeed, so I landed a job where I was MUCH higher up in the food chain! And, I was really, really happy with my new company for many years after that.

The Ticking Clock
In my early 30's, that old biological clock began bothering me. I had never married and didn't see it coming on the horizon anytime soon. I wondered if the goal of raising children would be forever out of my reach. However, I quickly figured out that I could easily adopt children to share my life with. This seemed to be such a beautiful solution for me since it would benefit not only me, but also a child who had unfairly encountered a major life setback at such an early age! As a single parent, my options were a little more limited than the options available to married couples. I decided to go for an international adoption and was soon given a referral for a 2-year-old, blue-eyed, blonde little girl. In 1996, I went to Moscow and Ekaterinburg, Russia to complete the adoption. Not only did I get my own little beautiful child from that trip, but I had a wonderful 10-day life experience in Russia -- a country I had always been curious about. Then, about a year and a half later, I went back to Ekaterinburg a second time and adopted my second child, a son.

Life's Lessons from the Front Lines
In looking back over my life's experiences, you see both life's fulfillments and life's disappointments. In the big picture, I would say that the good times have outnumbered the bad times by at least 10 to 1. Even more interestingly, life's worst moments have usually been followed by even greater successes. Of course, although this has been VERY hard to see when I was knocked down, lying on the ground (metaphorically-speaking), and devastated by one of life's disappointments.

Yet, every time I had a setback, I remember doing one thing... I went to the library and collected relevant books so that I could learn my way out of my problems. I read a lot of information, and I integrated what I learned into my day-to-day decisions. I found the common themes in these writings and adapted them to my personal circumstances. "Knowledge is power" or so they say. Well, I believe it to be true in my case, and I'd like to share what I've learned with others.

That, then, is the purpose of this website: Bouncing Back -- Surviving and Thriving After Life's Little Knocks. I'll write about what I've learned through both research and experience. I'll read the latest books to keep up with new ideas. And, I'll post it all here to help you as you overcome your own life setbacks.

I hope you find useful ideas and inspiration here. And, remember, your next greater level of happiness and success is just beyond that little roadblock currently blocking your way.



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Blog Administration
I've decided not to accept comments on Bouncing Back due to the significant level of blog spamming abuse associated with this function. After all, with my several years of experience as a webmaster, I've experienced the dramatic rise in web spamming and fraud on an up close and personal basis. Trust me... however, bad you might think it is from your experience as a web surfer -- it's probably a hundred times worse than that! I appreciate my readers and hope they will understand my decision on this.

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Blog Software: Serendipity

Blog Design Template (originally designed for WordPress): www.vanillamist.com

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