Oh Tiger...

For the last several days, Tiger Woods and his family have been a part of the national news cycle. Unfortunate as it is, he has made a mistake. A mistake that has not only impacted him personally and financially, but a mistake that has clearly impacted his wife, kids and now even his in-laws. What a mess...

Or at least that is what I felt at first. But suppose the mess ISN'T that we have now found out about his sordid and purient behaviors. Maybe the mess is that this sordid part of his life was going on all along and we never knew. Maybe the mess is that for years, he chose to repeatedly leave his dutiful wife at home to meet with other women to whom he had no real meaningful relationship. Maybe the mess is that he could do this and then return home to that same woman and give her no indication that anything other than great golf had happened while he was away. Maybe the mess is that Tiger may have never recognized that his behavior was wrong unless and until he was exposed.

So maybe, the world finding out about Tiger's transgressions isn't a mess at all. Maybe it's a blessing for Tiger and the world that admired him. After all, we've learned that what you see is not always what you get. We've learned that morality, honesty and integrity are not prerequisites for talent and ability. You can clearly have one set of positive traits without the other. We've learned that all men are fallible, some women are opportunistic and what is done in the dark will always come out in the light.

Now what Tiger has learned is yet to be determined. We assume that he now knows that his wife will fight him, his girlfriends will expose him, and his friends will publicly chastise him. But these are all external lessons. The internal lessons will be the most truthful and long lasting, after all adversity introduces a man to himself.

The Real Issue