Yeah I have been drawn into this as well. It is like watching a train wreck in slow motion. It is a life lesson that you should pay attention to. Apparently 2 million dollars a week CANNOT BUY HAPPINESS.
This is a mistake so many people make. The think that money, success and fame will be the key to finding happiness. The push and push to get there only to arrive empty and will all the baggage that they started out with. I hear this time and time again. If I get a beautiful girl then I will be happy. If I get rich I will be happy. If I get confidence I will be happy.
That…is a delusional mindset. The reason is simple. No matter what great feeling you think you need to be happy, it won’t help until you work on yourself.
So let’s take look at Charlie Sheen. I watched the interviews and it is amazing….and a bit insulting. Charlie thinks he brings light into the lives of the great unwashed. Because he has this power that the rules that us mortals live by do not apply to him. He is a superman.
I am a fan of his show Two and a Half Men. It can be funny but when I am done is Charlie even a memory? He is an actor. He has no lasting impact on my life. He does not make my life less boring. If anything his show is one long running gag with very little imagination. Still at times it is funny.
Whenever I see someone constantly tell the world how wonderful they are I know I am seeing a meltdown. They are not trying to convince me. They are trying to convince themselves. Sheen brags about his drug use. He imagines he has a magnificent brain that is so powerful that no one else could manage it. He HAS to believe that. If not it means that he is just one of us and for him that is not good enough.
Why is he so screwed up? Sheen thrives on the rush. The trap of that lifestyle is that the rush habituates and then he needs something more. So beautiful women are not enough. now he needs hookers. Then that is not enough to get the rush. Now he needs drugs and hookers. Then that is not enough. He needs drugs hookers and drama. Then that is not enough. Then they try to take away the drugs so he goes on a media frenzy to get the drama. Then that is not enough so he tries to generate conflict to get the rush.
Everything he does is to feed the dopamine rush that needs more novel behavior in order to get triggered. So Charlie will keep doing even more outrageous things. I fear that eventually he will go completely out of control. We will see yet another self proclaimed success meet a tragic end because they would not deal with what they are running away from.
So why bother to write about this here. I want you to notice how Charlie Sheen is fooling himself. Notice how he justifies his behavior. Notice how he glorifies his behavior.
Most importantly notice when you do the same thing. If you are trying to quit smoking, notice the lies you tell yourself to avoid stopping. If you are trying to quit drinking, notice your justifications that make it okay for you to drink. If you want a new job, or to meet a girl or to run a marathon….notice when you make up stories to keep you stuck right where you are.
If you forget or think you don’t do this….just pull up any recent interview by Charlie Sheen. It is a master class in self destruction.
Was just reading a review of his show on Entertainment Weekly. Thought you would find this interesting: “People are used to entertainers, even mediocre ones, establishing a rhythm, an authority, and Sheen, in his act, doesn’t deliver that basic, organizing energy. He’s essentially REACTIVE, which is why he’s so effective on talk shows, or even during those hostile news-media interrogations. He requires an antagonist to heat up his tiger blood.” (capitalization mine)
I wonder about the hazards of what one inevitably filters out when stuck being reactive. Maybe some of the backlash revolves around his establishment of himself as a fountain of truth, only to later show that he also wears nonsense-colored glasses like the people he criticizes?
I disagree, he isn’t bragging, he’s found belief in himself rather that in any bullshit the media presents to you. He’s found his freedom. I don’t agree with drugs etc, i’m not on about all that. He’s seen something most people are blind too and he just wants others to see it.
I do think Sheen is having some mental issues. He has embarked upon a self-destructive rampage of epic proportions. Nobody in full possession of their faculties would do that.
http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/features/2011/02/stark-raving-mad-libs-201102
Good observations Tom. I’ve followed Charlie’s drama also, a study of human implosion, a modern day Icarus. Interesting how fame is a magnifier of weakness as well as strength. Many others with fame and fortune live relatively normal lives. So what’s the difference? It’s all in our heads.
Isn’t Charlie just living the way that many men want to live? I mean how many men think their boss’ are idiots? The difference is Charlie has the money to be able to voice his opinion, instead of living in fear of losing their job which is why I believe more people don’t voice their opinions of their boss.
I don’t want to live that way. Although I bet a lot of men do want to live a single life, playing with every opportunity but without consequences.
I admire people that stand up for their convictions. Though I think Sheen is acting like a baby. Actually, babies don’t deserve that.