Saturday, April 17, 2010

Need to Know?

In a soon-to-be-released autobiography, Olympic beach volleyball champion Misty May-Treanor reveals a youth marred by her two alcoholic parents and her own struggles with alcoholism. I'm sure many will praise her for "opening up," as many praised Andre Agassi's admission of meth use.

I don't begrudge anyone the personally therapeutic effects of "coming clean", but one person's therapy may come at the cost of relationships. I don't know that this will be true in Misty's case; I just wonder—if one has found the courage to lay painful secrets bare—why not use that same courage to move on without telling them?

Despite being a writer with a blog and a Twitter account, there are some things I will never say. I know that anything I say will not be fully understood as dating services advertise. I wrote a few weeks ago that there's a limit to how deeply any two people can understand each other. It's true everyone needs help, but more people ought to take responsibility for themselves. That's what any professional eventually tells you.

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