Lancing the Boil

This week, Lance Armstrong, cycling villain extraordinaire, took the first step towards healing the wounds caused by his extensive doping scandal.  Guided by one of the world’s most pre-eminent celebrity interviewers, Oprah Winfrey, Lance admitted to using nearly every imaginable type of banned performance enhancing substance.  He outlined    the steps he took to win, to “level the playing field,” as he put it.  The one thing that was missing?  A real apology.

A boil is typically a cyst or infected hair follicle gone bad.  The minor infection expands into a larger area of the body, increasing both in size and effect.  A severe boil can lead to more significant infection; even an average size one can cause severe fever and extreme weariness as the body fights.  The first step in treating the infection combines the repeated use of a heated compress with thorough washing.  Drawing the pus to the surface prepares it for the next step.

Lance needs to learn how to apologize.  He reminded me of the time I was caught drinking syrup from the bottle (that stuff tasted good!).  I apologized to my Mom, but I was more sorry to myself for getting caught than I was about drinking the syrup.  Lance’s delivery, his body language, even his word choices all contradicted the intended apologetic spirit of the interview.  Perhaps he felt sorry, but his demonstration of that feeling lacked merit, and to many, appeared equally as insulting.

When treating a boil, doctors will also prescribe antibiotics and topical creams to treat the infection.  Employing a multi-pronged attack helps to ensure a successful initial treatment.  Taking care to reach the infection from every angle prevents a relapse.

A true apology can be an art many of us find unfamiliar.  Our society raises up the strong, and to many, apologizing implies weakness.  This is backwards to me; admitting error takes incredible spiritual strength.  By cheating in the first place, Lance demonstrated his lack of internal strength.  Should anyone be surprised that his apology lacked strength as well?

Lancing a boil can be dangerous, and when used as the only means of treatment, often leads to re-infection or secondary infection.  When not approached in the proper way, the pus remains hard packed, continuing to clog the wound.  Not consulting a medical professional and taking the knife into our own hands often yields terrible results.  

Lance’s apology came across as a personal attempt to lance the boil of his years of lies, deceit, and outright despicable behavior.  The boil on Lance’s soul is filled from his mistreatment of friends and associates, his destructive attacks on people’s lives for attempting to expose the truth, and the incredible disservice he has done to his fans.  Because Lance did not treat his own infection before attempting to lance it, true healing is impossible.  Only after the right steps will Lance truly be able to move forward from this and heal along with everyone he has hurt.

- a good article on how to correctly apologize using Lance's apology as an instructive counterpoint

Getting Burned

Every so often we do dumb things.  Most of us commonly share the Homer Simpson experience of slapping our forehead and saying “Doh!” because of some silly, simple error.  Most often, these moments are preceded by an uncalculated, rash act.  This is what happened to me today.

If you are a relatively new reader, you might not know that I like to ride a road bike.  Lately my schedule has only allowed me weekend forays on the bike and I usually keep my rides to an hour or so.  Personally, I love the feeling of flying down the road, in and amongst nature, with the warmth of the sun and the cool breeze playing counterpoint to each other.  

My normal ride takes me out of my neighborhood, down a slightly busy street, and into Bender’s Landing, a nearby burb whose wooded half and full acre plots sport a variety of architectural styles ranging from glorified row house to neo-mid-century suburban castle, from transplanted ski lodge to Mississippi plantation.  I love looking at the eclectic mix of homes as I press myself to push my pace, streaking by man-made lakes mixed with virginal nature.  The roads are well maintained and nearly traffic free, the trees provide shade without blocking the breeze, and the options for longer rides are plentiful with just an easy right or left turn.

In my nearly three years of riding, luck rides with me - I have never been injured.  Until today.  Now, there are many ways a bike injury occurs.  Collision with another object - animate or inanimate.  A surprise wind gust throwing off your balance.  An unfortunately placed speed bump.

My injury was none of these.  Most injuries occur as a result of something unforeseen.  Mine could have very easily been prevented had I just thought out my actions.

I had just left my neighborhood and was traversing Riley-Fuzzel Rd. (soon to be the Grand Parkway).  The two lanes of traffic each way are easily escapable thanks to a wide paved shoulder.  Frequently, to a cyclists chagrin, the shoulder becomes the repository for road waste - tire bits, broken taillights, periodic trash (Don’t Mess With Texas!), and broken glass.  I usually do well to avoid to obstacles, keeping my eyes ahead, but today I rode through a pocket of broken glass.

One of the first lessons I learned while riding the bike is to keep the tires free of broken class - duh, right - so I did what you are supposed to do.  I leaned forward and, using the portion of my glove between my thumb and forefinger, pressed against the front tire, clearing the tire of debris.  Then, I reached behind me, just under the saddle, and did the same thing.

Now, those of you who ride bikes, or understand the basic laws of physics, know that when you ride a bike, the tire rotates.  When something touches a rotating object, frequently, it is influenced by the velocity of the rotation, pulling it along.  Touching a rotating bike tire is no different.  When clearing the front tire, I did what I was supposed to do - I pressed my glove against it just past the prongs, making sure my hand was pulled away from them.  On the back, because I didn’t think, I just acted, I touched behind the prongs.  In a fantastical display of the laws of physics, the tire pulled my hand along with it, cramming it into the gap between the tire and the back prong.  Of course, I was still moving (and in fact pedaling), meaning the tire kept moving in the same direction, despite my hand being in the way.  Finally, after the surprise ripped away, I yanked my hand out and continued my ride.

My glove protected most of my right hand, but I still managed to tear the skin off in a couple of places and give myself friction burns on others.  For a musician, it could have been much worse.

Make sure to think before you act.  It doesn’t matter if you are riding a bike, in the middle of an emotionally charged argument, or pursuing a like changing decision, always give consideration to the results of your actions.  I learned an important lesson today (one I am certain I have been taught before), but I know, had it been any number of other situations, the results could have been much more dire.  Take it from me: don’t get burned.

Rinse and Repeat

Most of us are familiar with laundry.  We wear the clothes we like, we wad them up and deposit them into a basket (or the floor), and when we run out, or it is laundry day, we wash them.  This cycle continues constantly throughout our life, with only the clothes varying.

There are many cycles in our lives, some larger and over arching like the seasons, others subtle and hidden.  We perpetrate cycles without ever knowing it, running certain habits and behaviors over and over again.  Many of us are often familiar with our cycles and welcome them like old friends come to visit.  Some of us detest our cycles, yet still we succumb to their familiarity despite our loathing.

Much of the content in Being Frank can really be summed up in one idea - break the negative cycles.  We are too frequently the victims of a vicious cycle of abuse we commit against ourselves; I see the results of my own and others’ cycles rear their heads all too often.

Amazingly, every single cycle we allow ourselves to fall into can be broken.  All it takes is a simple decision.

I use the word simple weighted with as much sincerity and seriousness as I can muster.  The idea of simple would imply that the the action of breaking the cycle is easy, which it is not.  The decision is the simple part.  We make up our mind about issues constantly during the day, choosing behaviors to manifest our experiences.  Making a decision is easy.  Following through is hard.

In a way, this is a cycle as well.  We decide we want to change aspects of our life, we craft a plan to enact the changes, we fail to follow through.  The next time around we do the same thing, accomplishing nothing more than creating frustration.  If we can find a way to break this cycle and others, we will find more fulfillment through our existence.  

One of my friends, Roland, recently exposed a cycle I have fallen into for the past couple of years.  I, like many Americans, complain about my weight, my fitness level, and my overall health.  Roland, who I have written about before, called me out.  He pointed out that while I have a goal, I don’t have a goal. Simply wanting to lose weight, even having a desired weight goal, is not enough.  He is right.  The most productive I have ever been with fitness training was while training for the Houston marathon.  While a knee injury prevented me from finishing my training, I dedicated myself to the program because I had a goal.  Roland told me I needed to set a goal, an end date, at which point my obligation would be complete.

This is certainly not the only way to break a cycle in your life.  First you must make the decision and second you must follow through, but having checkpoints along the way that motivate you to work and to change certainly helps.

Don’t succumb to the repetitive nature of our being.  Identify the cycles you no longer wish to repeat.  Make a decision and follow through.  Break the cycle.

Frank Chambers

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