Bill George On Dealing With Severe Trials

Bill George is a former CEO of Medtronic and now a full professor at Harvard. He often has some pretty interesting observations. In What Prince Harry’s Grief Over the Loss of Princess Diana Can Teach Every Leader he discusses how to handle severe trials in life.

Now I have never been a big follower of the British royal family but aspects of the recently married Prince Harry's life are enlightening. As most people know, his mother Princess Diana died tragically when he was just a child. In reaction, Harry buried the pain by joining the military, where he served with some distinction, and heavy partying. Eventually, on the advice of his older bother Prince William, he sought counseling and dealt with he pain of his mothers's loss directly. Since then he has refocused his life to one of charity and service to others. He has become extremely popular and his recent marriage to American Megan Marple has endeared him even more with the public.

George also discusses  Pedro Algorta, one of  survivors of the airplane crash in the Andes Mountains documented in Alive, the popular book by Piers Paul Read and movie of the same name. 

Algota, like all the other survivors, had resorted to cannibalism to stay alive. Suppressing the event, he went on to a highly successful life as a businessman. Eventually however, he did come around to addressing his experience and wrote a book, Into the Mountains: The Extraordinary True Story of Survival in the Andes and Its Aftermath, about the event.

Algota says there are three ways to deal with his severe trials:

1. Be the victim by living your life looking backward, with anger and blame about what happened to you.
2. Live your life as if nothing happened, while the memories and pain remain buried inside you.
3. Use the event to transform your wound into a pearl.

The last one is the the one he recommends. 

Given what happened to me, Spring's perjury, Nelly Wince's blatant fraud and the obvious whitewashing of it by the Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board, the county attorney's office stating that their are no laws against a lawyer lying in court. Judge Mearly's  subversion of the law and many other criminal and unethical acts by various people, I can relate to Algota's three ways. Indeed, I have done them all. 

I have often felt like a victim, especially so because I am still being victimized every day. The twisting knife in my soul has become the background to my life. 

I have also avoided the issue. I have tried not to think about it. I have suppressed the events.  I have focused on education, work, my kids, my relationship with the girl I have been with for many years now. 

I have also addressed the issue and tried to use it to change society for the better. That is why this site exists. Yet, substantive change has eluded me. I am still being forced by the government to reward crimes by others. People are still being victimized every day. People are still dying every day. I must do more.