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Marion Jones, wow what a person she has turned out to be! I am impressed with her true character. After over half a decade of trouble, allegations, and innuendo, she has come clean. There are many people who are thinking what a terrible person she is. Perhaps she was simply an athlete who in this instance wanted to win above all else? I am sure she went a long way on her accolades over these last years, a lot farther than she ever deserved for what she has done. For most of what Marion Jones received, Marion Jones probably can never make right with those who deserved it and until now were denied their right to fame and victory.

But the truth is out now. Marion Jones was a hero of many up and coming female athletes, and I am sure, some male athletes too. Hopefully most of those will be able to see her confession for what it is. A person who has done something very wrong and can not live with herself any longer and has come clean, hopefully in every part of her life. How much courage it took Marion Jones to stand up in front of the world and admit the truth. How much courage, knowing she would be looked down upon by the world, held in some form of contempt by family members, friends, fellow athletes, past sponsors, and supporters. Knowing that she may be facing a prison term. Knowing at best her future is very, very dim.

What makes Marion Jones’ confession so bitter is Marion Jones has had to live with Marion Jones all these years along with all the secondary problems she has wrought. I am sure as time goes by, she will be able to look herself in the mirror and like the woman she will see, but not for a long while yet. For the near future and much of her past, Marion has not been able to like the person she saw in the mirror. Now, all that is left is to wonder could Marion Jones have achieved most or all of what she did without steroids. I would like to think she could have, but neither Marion Jones, nor you or I will ever know. What a shame that such a talented athlete was put under such pressure to win that not only did she take steroids, but it took her until now to admit it.

I hope when people look at Marion Jones, they think long and hard about their own lives before they dismiss Marion Jones as someone to be despised for being a liar, for cheating the rightful winners out of their victory, and all that she falsely took from them that she did not deserve. It has taken some time, but Marion Jones has showed her true colors at last. Marion Jones could no longer live with herself as a lie. I wish her the best for her future which as hard as it will be, will be no worse than the past years she has already lived through. As an American, I offer the rightful Gold medal winners my sincere apology, and I hope they can still claim most of what is rightfully theirs.

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family, life choice, marion jones, female athlete

Comments (0) Oct 05 2007

Well over a century ago when things were not simpler, just different. One of my ancestors, most likely my great Grandfather, had some legal problems in Ireland that became serious enough he found his way into a courtroom. He was made a prisoner aboard an English ship, jumped ship in Canada and made his way into the United States, and settled in Michigan.

My great Grandfather saw a lot of things change in his time much like we do today. In his day, in a little town in Michigan, he worked, saved and had a successful life. This was still in the horse and buggy day, so the cost of living was quite low compared to today at the turn of the century. A lot has changed since that time. A few of the changes that took place were railroads and track, automobiles and roads, federal income tax, world wars, the great depression, and that is only the high level view.

For the individuals of their time, people just like like you and I were slowly drawn into a life of consumerism. Suddenly goods that people had been happy with for many years were suddenly old, faded, worn, or there were exciting new products out there that people just could not live without. People went from saving as much of their pay checks as they could, to spending their paychecks, and some spent faster than others.

For many of us learning from our parents and their good life in the fifties and sixties we have become a nation of debtors chasing instant gratification. Over half of us can not always pay our bills on time, nor can many of us afford what we owe. We have evolved not into just buying this we want, but replacing perfectly good items with newer items, primarily our cars. For many of us we do not need a new car, we want a new car.

Unfortunately, because we are creatures of habit, our car spending thinking trickles down to all aspects of our life. We could work our way out of debt, but we choose not to generally. The steps for getting out of debt are easy, while following those steps are not. It is much easier not to put ourselves in that position to start with.

Technorati Tags:
spending, debt, credit, credit card, great depression, consumerism

Comments (2) Oct 05 2007