Finding Strength in the Middle of Brokenness
CHARRISSE JACKSON-JORDAN
Finding Strength in the Middle of Brokenness
Originally, from Somerset, New Jersey, Real Housewives of Potomac reality star, Charrisse Jackson-Jordan, is settling into the newest phase of her life after the shock of heartbreak and divorce. With her focus keen on what is most important… like her children and finally herself, Charrisse is gracefully moving forward and defining her purpose.
Behind the scenes of BRAVO’s reality series, Charisse is just like you and me. Taking care of her children, supporting them and their talent and engulfing herself in her community.
I’ve been raising my children. Crazily I decided to take on a position coaching my daughter’s cheer team. I thought they were going to keep me young, instead I’m pulling muscles (laughing). I’m very involved with my kids. Very involved in the community. One of my top passions with community service is domestic violence. When I was president of the National Basketball Wives Association, every year we would have these different charities and a lot of them were related to women and children; and particularly we found ourselves doing a lot of things for domestic violence.
I think it was about ten years ago, I went to a home in California for women who have been abused. To be in that environment and to hear their stories helped me to see, you know, what they’ve gone through and the challenges that they faced. It gave me an inner-passion to be one of my charities of choice. But of course I’ve worked for other organizations, but particularly for women and children and anything related to cancer.
Charrisse also shared her story about her brother passing away from pancreatic cancer just two years ago – making all three brothers now deceased. Now helping her father battle prostate cancer, Charrisse has devoted a great deal of her supporting efforts of awareness.
As she works for others, she’s putting more into doing things for herself… things that truly make her happy.
I really don’t do anything exclusively for myself. I’m still trying to get to that point. For me, I have to deal with the process of the demise of my relationship and you know, then my focus turned to keeping my kids mental stable. So it was like my focus was on myself, but now I have to think about my children. And so once again, I kind of just put myself on the back drop to make sure my kids were okay.
Going through the process that I’m going through now, it’s sort of like another death.
Only a year after dealing with the death of her brothers, dying months apart, she was now grieving for her marriage.
I’ve been in a very awkward position over that last few years. Even on the show, last month when I was tapping I really was not in it… emotionally because I’m going through a lot of things in my personal life. So when I was tapping I was thinking this stuff is so petty – so I kind of disconnected myself from it.
I’m still going through the process. You know you have peaks and valleys, good days and bad days, you know, but at the end of the day, I’ve found that the easiest thing for me is to laugh and surround myself with positive people.
I can only imagine the brokenness feeling of going through so many deaths in her family and now the end of her marriage and try to keep up appearance as well as the wellbeing of her children. Exhausted is the first thing that comes to mind, but Charrisse empowers herself to move forward even in the spotlight.
Wow. I could not imagine the weight and roller coaster of emotions. People have said being on reality shows increases the chances of your relationship failing. I don’t believe Charrisse ever doubted the stability and foundation of her marriage. However, after seeing herself interact on Real Housewives of Potomac, she saw something different within herself.
Starting out I wasn’t interested in being on the show. I was just going to help cast it. In the process, I ended up being on it. Looking back, when the show aired, I saw… I think I viewed it differently than anyone else who watched it. When I looked at it, I saw, like a bad person. The person that I am, I didn’t see her. So it was like a reality check for me, in terms of empowering myself to pull out of that state. I didn’t realize I was in it until I saw the show.
When I saw the trailer, I was like, I was in the house for three weeks… I didn’t want to talk to anybody. It was horrible. (laughing) You just gotta own it. Everything that I’ve learned, everything happens for a reason. I refuse to look at it as a failure, but a lesson and move forward to be better. Even in terms of my relationship. The last thing that I wanted was to get a divorce. I never imagined that I would get a divorce. I’m very family oriented and so it was just like… oh my goodness, I can’t believe this is happening to me.
When my husband told me he wanted to get a divorce, I was like, how is he going to do that? I’m not breaking my vow to God and you’re gonna have to figure out how you’re going to do that. It was around July, and this voice said, “Charrisse, do you think this is how God wants you to live?” I was like… I DON’T THINK SO.
After that, Charrisse decided to move forward with the divorce. Reflecting on the past, Charrisse has vowed to navigate life differently after the challenges she faced with her relationship. So now that she’s shared her challenges, people are gravitating to her looking for answers on how to find the strength in the middle of brokenness.
It’s funny now that people come up to me asking for advice. I’m like Dr. Ruth now! (laughing) I It’s so weird that people that I knew and thought were in healthy relationships were in bad relationships. They’re like “oh my God, I’m going through the same thing.” I don’t want to be anybody’s hero, because I am struggling. (laughs)
Charrisse’s energy is flowing toward writing a book and trying to develop and create a platform for herself. She’s accepting life and the good and the bad. Ultimately her goal is to come full circle… to get back to what matters and not be ashamed of her story… her journey… her breakthrough and now her success.
Follow Charrisse Jackson-Jordan on social media and keep up with her journey…
