I cut up two pears, expecting to mix them with cottage cheese for a light lunch. From the outside, they both looked to be a day or two past their prime, with brown spots dotting the yellow skin.

When I sliced into the first pear, it was as I expected–white flesh at the center, with a few bruised areas towards the outer skin, easily excised before dumping into a bowl of cottage cheese.

The second pear surprised me. It had rotted from the inside. Almost none of it was salvageable, save for a sliver closest to the outer skin. Instead of tender fruit, the core had disintegrated into a mealy mass.

It got me wondering if people are the same way. As a coach, I'd like to think that our bruises are on the surface and the core of each person is not just salvageable, but intact and whole.

However, when I read about the disgraced Illinois governor, I couldn't help think that something was really wrong inside to have displayed such hubris, almost delusional behavior. Has Blagojevich rotted from the inside?

Photo credit: matthewveenker