Who needs fiction? Need a plot line for a movie? Book? Just check out the reality of our world. More often than not, truth is far stranger than fiction.
You could check out some reality TV or, better yet, just turn on the news. It doesn’t get any stranger than that.
So as we go into episode 2 of Rhubarb Ruminations, let’s keep that “truth is stranger than fiction” mantra alive and well. Here are three more news items that just make you say “hmmmm”.
Let’s start with Item number one, which definitely needs to go in the category of “best moment of dramatic irony” in recent news memory. The confessed assassin of Malcolm X Thomas Hagen was released from jail a few weeks ago. I guess with our legal system as it is, that shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Go to jail for murder, get out 44 years later on parole or good behavior – or something along those lines. Hold on a second – get out for good behavior? You killed someone! But I digress.
So how does this little snippet of rhubarb become more intriguing?
A moment. Here, now. And before you know it, the moment is gone. Only to be followed by another moment, and another, much like a string of pearls.Being “in the moment” is the essence of being present in your world. Or so the Zen masters might tell us. For many, this is an outrageously difficult task. It is elegant in it’s simplicity, yet challenging in it’s deeper meaning.
We’re caught up in the passage of time. Life. Experience. Spirituality. A series of moments, all demanding a description, an expression of the experience. And for many, the more pearls on that necklace, the better.
What amazes me is how we can struggle to simply be in the moment, but we’re bound and determined in the meantime to capture the moment and document it in any way possible. It doesn’t matter if you are an artist, or a scientist. It’s not a left brain or right brain task.
Is it possible to focus so hard on capturing the moment that it becomes impossible to simply experience it? And once you’ve captured that moment, what do you do with it?
Social media is rapidly becoming a part of our daily reality. We now have many ways to share our world online – our photos, our current thoughts and activities, and even our current geographical location. All in real-time.
We have access to data like never before. We also have the ability to share that data – like never before. Lo and behold, we now have the “status update”.
But this data can also come at you like a fire hose stream of water. It can feel like you’re swimming upstream, against the current, in a fast-flowing river. It never stops. It flows past you while you stand there, up to your knees in it.
Sometimes you can dip your toes in it, then pull away from it. Other times, you’re sucked into the oppressive flow of random thoughts, irreverent at times, irrelevant at times, utterly stupendous at others.
We now update our status – regularly. But we’re faced with the challenge of separating the signal from the noise. And there are definitely times when the noise rules the roost. Much like a bear, you bury your head in the stream, then grab a fish and pull it out. There. Got it. Now on to the next fish. In the meantime, the stream flows around you.
At times, you have to wonder - what value does this add to our existence?
The NFL draft has always proven to be an adventure in guesswork, to say the least. The “next big thing” ends up on the first train out of town. Or perhaps the low-rounder steps up and proves that he was well worth his weight in ticket prices.
If there is any position in which this can be an utter crap shoot, it is at quarterback. Step right up, roll the dice and take your chances.
If you look at the history of the NFL draft, you’ll find a lot of first round quarterback draft picks currently or formerly residing on the “where are they now” list. It is actually quite fascinating when you consider that this more often than not reflects “conventional wisdom” for the NFL. You know how it is - “he’s got all the skills, the body type, the college resume, blah blah blah”. Talk is cheap, and there is lots of it.
Then, after he’s been selected as a first rounder, he suddenly looks no better than the janitor throwing paper into the trash bin. Well, maybe not as bad as the janitor – but you get my point. Actually, the janitor might throw a tighter spiral and fumble fewer times, but I digress.
The discussion gets even better when you look at quarterbacks that were number one overall draft picks.
How about this stunning list from yesteryear. In hindsight, would you pick any of them for your fantasy football team?
I have spent most of my career working with athletes, be they recreational or elite. They have run the gamut from endurance sports to power sports, and all points in between. Over 12 years ago, I completed the highest level of training in the McKenzie Method. Since then, I have been one of the few practitioners worldwide that has been actively applying this approach to a sports population.
With all of the approaches to care available, especially with athletes, why head down this path?
First of all, the McKenzie Method has a very intuitive “fit” with an athletic population. First and foremost, the active populace is typically in the “mind set” of self-treatment and training. Athletes, be they recreational or elite, seek treatment methods that are active and patient-centered. These patients are highly responsive to such measures and typically prefer approaches that facilitate “empowerment” and self-treatment.
The McKenzie Method also provides a great screening process – to understand the mechanical loading strategies, directional preference, and thus safe aspects of training that can be resumed early on in the injury recovery process.
The sports medicine world is traditionally very “pathology-driven”, so my first forays with McKenzie into this world were like speaking a foreign language.
At this point in time, I think this needs to be said.
Can we all just let this whole Tiger Woods thing go? Please? Can we just let the guy play golf again, and let him get on with repairing his world and his relationship?
Or do people really feel like they need to play bad parent and just keep scolding him?
I understand that he’s a high-profile persona in our society. And I understand that he’s become a role model to many. I follow all of that.
But first and foremost, the guy is human.
What makes it infinitely worse is that there are plenty of hypocrites in our society out there pointing fingers at him.
And imagine this – news just in. Masters chairman Billy Payne had some harsh words for Woods. We’ll get into those in a bit. But hey, Payne should be happy that Woods’ first tournament in 5 months was the Masters, with all of that media attention on Augusta. I’ll bet the sponsors loved that.
Remember though, that Augusta National is the home of the all-male membership club rules so eloquently defended by Hootie Johnson in 2002. Remember that Augusta is the home of the club that did not accept a black member until 1990, and has yet to accept a female.
Ah let the finger pointing begin.
Six months from now, we’ll be reflecting back on the landmark passage of HR 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Six months from now, the average American will have a much better understanding of the truth behind the bill. For your reading pleasure, you can refer to the actual bill language here or review a summary in plain English here or some bottom-line issues here.
Six months from now, with any luck whatsoever, the vitriol and misinformation will have died down. Even from the Tea Partiers – maybe.
Six months from now, the bill will slowly be phasing in.
And you know what? I suspect that that same average American is going to start to say “hey, this health care reform thing isn’t really a bad idea after all”. We’re already seeing a shift in public opinion. In a poll conducted by USA Today within days of the vote, 49% of Americans stated that the health care reform bill was a “good thing” and were “enthusiastic” and “pleased” with it. Four of seven major polls showed an increase in the numbers favoring the health care reform. The Kaiser Family Foundation’s latest poll found that 28 percent of respondents were now ‘strong’ supporters, up from 19 percent in January. And that was within days of the greatest attempts put forward to kill the bill.
I think that trend will continue once people fully realize what this bill means to them, and not what it means to the special interests.
Imagine this – even the stakeholders are supporting it. [insert sarcasm here] What? How could that be? It’s evil incarnate, isn’t it? Armageddon. Blasphemy!
And the political intrigue has only just begun. November is election time. What say ye, oh American voter?
Up to 60% of runners will sustain an injury within any given year. Poor running mechanics, in conjunction with poor, ineffective and outdated training methods, can pose a significant injury risk. "RunSmart" was written to address these issues in the running community.
"Running Injuries: Etiology And Recovery- Based Treatment" (co-author Bridget Clark, PT) appears in the third edition and fourth editions of "Clinical Orthopaedic Rehabilitation: A Team Approach" by Charles Giangarra, MD and Robert C. Manske, PT.
Allan Besselink, PT, DPT, Ph.D., Dip.MDT has a unique voice in the world of sports, education, and health care. Read more about Allan here.
Top 5 finalist in three categories: "Best Overall Blog", "Best PT Blog" and "Best Advocacy Blog".
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