Agony and Exhaustion and the weird things we do to compensate.

Jo Lawn is helped after winning the 2010 Ironman New Zealand on March 6, 2010 in Taupo, New Zealand.

Here we see Jo Lawn completely drained and sticking out his tongue. This is not a tongue jut. When we are stretched to the breaking point we often do some unique things to compensate.

One time there was crime scene photographs showing a man in a hotel room, shoes and pants and belt on, while his suit jacket shirt and tie (still tied but the knot very tight and pulled down so he could remove them all in one motion) lay in a ball four feet from him, with the shirt sleeves still in the jacket. The time of death was the night before and the body had been there until the maid had opened the door to clean the room. An incorrect assumption was made, because of his partial state of nakedness, that he had paid and been in the room to meet another person and it was important to find that other person. Police officers had fanned out talking to anyone and everyone asking if they had seen the man with someone else... It turned out he had a heart attack. When you have a heart attack you have a difficult time breathing and it feels like a elephant is sitting on your chest. When this man felt this sensation he was attempting to relieve the pressure by quickly removing his clothes. When he was faced with the intense pain of a heart attack he did something unique to compensate, but not all that uncommon.

In the above photograph we see Jo Lawn sticking out his tongue, possibly in an attempt to remove his tongue from his mouth to make his mouth bigger so he can take in more air; or maybe he is sticking out his tongue in an effort to soak up more air with his tongue like a leaf would soak up the sun. We cannot expect to know the what the modification is for, and if we would ask him why- later after he has recuperated- it is highly likely he would not believe you when you described what he did, and would have no memory of his feelings or motivation at the time.

It is important to recognize when people are stretched to their limits- either physically or emotionally- their outward facial expressions and gestures may be extreme and not follow normal reasoning.◦

Agony and Exhaustion and the weird things we do to compensate.