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Editorial: Woods saga highlights lessons
Commentary by Theresa Seraphim
for South Peace News
The Tiger Woods saga continues!
Women claiming to be his mistresses come out of the woodwork almost daily. We shake our heads with each new revelation and wonder how things could have imploded for him so quickly.
But lest we tend to feel superior, the Woods crisis also provides a learning opportunity, for him and for us, via several lessons.
The first one can be summarized in a question: Why did Tiger Woods get married in the first place? It’s a query that several columnists have been asking. Why didn’t he wait until he had gotten his wanderlust out of his system? Here we see the wisdom of waiting to make such a commitment, until a person is ready to do so.
It seems Tiger is easily distracted, which leads to the second lesson: Be aware that money and fame lead to strong temptations. This should go without saying, and yet here’s a man who apparently thought he could get close to the flame and not get burned.
But it happens. Groupies tend to be there only for one thing, which is taking advantage of the famous person, who can easily allow his or her head to be turned via all the attention.
If even a fraction of the women who have come forward did indeed sleep with Woods, his head must not only have been turned, but must also be spinning.
The third lesson is one Woods seems not to have learned – having better priorities. In an interview in early November at an Australian golf tournament, he was asked, “Family first and golf second. . .always been that way?” and responded, “Always. Always.”
But as Sheila Marikar wrote in an ABC news article, the reality belies that answer.
“Whether because of a sex addiction, the thrill of the chase, a self-destructive streak or some combination thereof, Woods apparently took on partner after partner to satisfy his urges. In American culture, after marriage, and especially after two children, that’s just not OK,” said Marikar.
She’s right. If Woods had been putting family first, chances are he would never have gotten into this mess in the first place, because he would have been better able to resist the inevitable temptations coming his way.
Fourth, Woods, like all famous people, has to realize that celebrities give up a certain degree of their privacy once they become famous. Do they deserve privacy? Well, yes, as human beings, they do.
But as noted people, ordinary citizens will be interested in what they say and do. Is it too much? Yes, it often is.
And yet, sometimes the common folk, via the media, sniff out something that shouldn’t be left alone. And herein lies the fifth lesson of the Woods saga: don’t shrug off the small stuff, because it can easily turn into bigger stuff.
Woods’ accident was relatively minor – some cuts and scrapes, which were easily tended to in hospital. No big deal, right? But what led to the mishap was not minor. It was nothing less than the unraveling of Tiger’s marriage, and the start of a bumpy patch in his career.
Therein lies the final lesson of this story: before doing anything, think about what you could lose if you go through with this action. If Woods had realized what he would lose by getting involved with those women, he may have had second thoughts about those relationships. Now, his wife will file for divorce and his children are gone, too. He just spent Christmas alone. Companies with which he had signed endorsements, are now distancing themselves from him because of the scandal.
Was it worth it? I doubt Woods would now say it was.
But some good will come out of it, if we can reflect on what his situation has to teach us. Remember those lessons, then act on them the next time temptation comes our way.
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