I have often wondered what it is, when you seem to have achieved a life of fame and fortune, that takes you down the road to drugs and ruination. Just in the last few years to name a few, there is Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston and her daughter and now maybe Prince. There seems to be some rationale for some people in society doing drugs because their lives are either out of control or lacking of any meaningful purpose but these people certainly didn't fit that description. They seem to be high achievers, tremendously talented and adored by millions and to my line of thinking, even putting the wealth aside, how could you ask for more in life?
Is there a point in your life when you have done it all and there is no place else to go, because at least in your mind you have gone as far up, as up goes and your life feels totally unchallenged? Is there a time when the pressures that go with being a public figure, weigh you down so much, you need to escape and so you hide behind the mask of mind-altering chemicals? Drifting off into a world that defies reality at a time when you can't handle reality anymore. Is there a time when you are fueled with fame and power so much that you become immune to the fear and cautions that most of us observe when it comes to misusing drugs and alcohol, feeling you can buy your way out of anything?
It is so tragic to be born with and develop those God-given talents and then to lose them-and your life-at a time when so many people believed in you. Accidents always happen but drugs are accidents waiting to happen.
Mike Holst
Crosslake
