"I'm calm, I'm at ease and ready to speak candidly." -- Lance Armstrong
Rumors are rife that Lance Armstrong is going to admit to doping in his upcoming interview with Oprah Winfrey this week. It seems very clear he did some doping in his career, how much we don't know.
But there are a number of obstacles to a full confession.
The New York Times has reported Armstrong's supporters are concerned he could face perjury charges if he confesses to using performance-enhancing drugs, because he made sworn testimony in a 2005 court case that he had never done so.
We all make mistakes, we all do things wrong. Our "impostors" need to be patted on the back, need approval and need love. "Impostors" are all about being seen and heard and they don't care if it's in a positive or negative way as long as people are talking about them. They are fame-mongers!
"Two things scare me. The first is getting hurt. But that's not nearly as scary as the second, which is losing." -- Lance Armstrong
However, your "authentic soul" (ego) also wants to be seen and heard but more importantly, wants to be respected and to behave with integrity. When you tame your "impostors" (your unconscious mind) you can still get the love, appreciation and respect you want from working hard, but you won't feel the need to cut corners and/or deceive others, especially those that are working for you.
The Lance Armstrong story is an interesting case study about a very talented, capable person with a big heart who cares about the world and created a wonderful organization, the Livestrong Foundation, that has helped millions. I, for one, have several friends with cancer and my mother passed away two years ago from cancer, so I'm appreciative of all the support his foundation has given to us. Unfortunately, when you do it with deceit, it takes away some of the respect, but let us not forget all the good he has done also.
As a life coach, I have found that Mr. Armstrong's situation is common. Most of my high-end clients feel guilty for their success because of cheating or selling out at some point to reach the top, and many of my not-so-successful clients also have traded their dignity for an opportunity but failed anyway. So I want to suggest that we take some time to think about the pressure that society (parents, teachers, community) puts on us and what we can do to change as a whole. Lance was caught so he's been put in the spotlight, but if we turn our focus on what can we learn from this instead of "hating" on Lance, I think we will all grow and learn from it and hopefully, it won't be as prominent.
Look at your own life and remember times when you've cheated, lied or done something wrong on whatever level. How did it make you feel, regardless of how small the incident?
Lets all look into our hearts and try to understand this epidemic of the need win at all costs. What are we as parents and society instilling in our kids' minds? That's what we should be talking about.
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