She found her purpose on “American Idol”
Paula Abdul says she didn’t figure out her purpose in life until she became a judge on Fox network’s “American Idol”. “I knew since I was a little girl that I had this profound way of touching people. My purpose is bringing out everybody’s best and being that cheerleader to other people’s success”, the 44-year-old singer-dancer tells OK! magazine in its latest issue.
“Being a judge on “American Idol” overshadows being a Grammy Award winner and selling millions of records”, she says.
It turns out that judging is really her purpose in life because she looks very happy now and more energetic.
Abdul has been diagnosed with reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD), a chronic neurological disorder that causes severe pain.
“I have four titanium plates in my neck. I’ve had 14 surgeries over the years. I had an operation the same evening as the first season finale of ‘American Idol’”, she says. “It can come and go at any time, but I no longer have the intense nerve pain that is associated with RSD, thank God.”
Abdul – who says she was hit by a drunk driver in 1987 and injured in an emergency plane landing in the early ’90s – says she is treated with anti-inflammatory medications and has massage and acupuncture treatments for her pain. Despite her severe pains she does everything needed to take part in all parts of “American Idol” which is to show her strong character built up during all those surgeries and fights with the pain.
“If I appear exhausted on television, it’s because I am!” she says. “I have a lot of sleepless nights because I’m in so much pain. I was taking far more medication on earlier seasons (of `American Idol’), and nobody said anything. I try to say something and I stumble, and that’s what people have picked up on. I’m not polished.”
The choreographer and former Laker girl also says: “I’m a warrior. I’m not the best dancer, and I’m certainly not the best singer, but I am an entire package of a great performer.”
