Lance Armstrong confesses. Finally. What a relief! To everybody. Believers, non-believers, those sued, the integrity of the Tour de France, the 'second place' runner-ups, himself!, his family, and, most importantly, his five children!
Credit: ABCNews
While there is obvious reason to be upset at Lance— he lied, he cheated, he attacked, he stole— there are also lessons to gain and perhaps things to be thankful for, including these...
Public Figures Are Human Too. Putting too much faith in public figures can be dangerous if you uphold them to a higher level, seemingly beyond human, which many fall prey to. Perhaps, yes, they can be classified in a different category than the 'average human', given income level and media attention, but nonetheless, however much fame and fortune, they are still human, have their flaws, and will make mistakes just like the rest of us. The scale in which they do might just be exacerbated by the aforementioned 'un-averageness'.
If It's Too Good To Be True, It Is. We all love a fairy tale story, a story of heroism and greatness, and want so much to believe in them, perhaps, because they give us hope and inspiration. If the story does that— motivates and makes us a better version of who we are— then the story has done its job and take it for just that.
Media Literacy! It needs to be an ongoing requirement in our educational system. And so does psychology and understanding mental illness for that matter. Perhaps, then, maybe so many wouldn't be so shocked and outraged. For children, it's different and they are excused as they are still heavily in the process of basic learning and don't know any better. But by the time we reach adulthood, we should be decently able to distinguish between fantastical and reality. Winning the Tour de France seven times? Sounds pretty fantastical.
Reference to previous point.
As for psychology and mental illness? The extremist nature of this whole story seems like it could only have been crafted by a man (or inkling of?, whichever) who has a serious mental disorder, including extreme
narcissism and
hero syndrome. Does everyone get that or does everyone just choose to be angry. Granted, it's 'easy' to blame fault on the intangible, so-called illness of the mind, but the mind is a very powerful and still highly enigmatic portion of our anatomy.
Focus On The Good And The Future. Thankfully, no one was hurt, at least not physically in this whole mess. Cancer patients and their families, amongst others, at least, however, found comfort, hope, and strength in Lance's story, whether or not it was true, in the times they really needed it. Livestrong has helped thousands, if not millions, in the fight against cancer. Just see
what they've done.
None of us are perfect. That doesn't excuse what Lance did but do you believe in forgiveness? Comment below and share your thoughts, we'd love to hear what you have to say!
Happy LiveHealthy LiveJuicy LiveIntegrity!
From left to right: Noodles, No-Salt-Added Stew [Pork, Tomatoes, Edamame, Carrots], Baby Bok Choy— all on an alphabet plate! :>— accompanied by Whole Milk.
