Famous/Successful People who were raging alcoholics
Member
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: NSW - Australia
Posts: 14,592
Hey lillyknitting, I looked up Mozart and the booze, and as you say the jury's out, but It all seems to point that way. He was only 32.
Must have been terrible in those days, where no treatment options were available and the impacts of alcohol unknown. Wonder whether 400 years ago it was seen as a moral failing?
Didn't get to see him perform live though, did you? Haha.
Must have been terrible in those days, where no treatment options were available and the impacts of alcohol unknown. Wonder whether 400 years ago it was seen as a moral failing?
Didn't get to see him perform live though, did you? Haha.
EndGame
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 4,677
I'd argue that, in terms of public sentiment, and on a grander scale than is provided by one's immediate family or loved ones and acquaintances, most people on the planet live and die in relative obscurity. Having a special set of skills or a distinctive capability, a "gift" for some people, confers neither the right nor the guarantee of fame or fortune, acclaim or notoriety, on any level. Nor does voicing expectations that things should be different or that the world doesn't appreciate who and what I/we am/are in the form of a complaint serve any purpose. Stated as a question, the problem is "What am I doing with my life?"
We all are blessed and burdened with different temperaments, personal histories, psychological make-ups, strengths and weaknesses, physical and medical challenges, and personal experiences that either place limitations on our access to traditional rewards and benefits, or provide opportunities to succeed that not everyone enjoys. Like many things, those kinds of rewards carry a great deal of importance when we don't have them. I've known many people successful in their love and work who were motivated by a fear of failure. I've also known people who are successful as human beings because traditional rewards meant virtually nothing to them. They are not happy because what they do makes them happy, but because they are happy to do what they do. They were and are essentially motivated by what they do, what contributions they make, and not by other people's opinions. How we engage the struggle, or whether or not we engage it at all, is what makes us who we are.
We are not defined by our limitations, though this is not entirely true. We are all limited by a fatal disease at birth, by our own mortality, which we either take for granted or use to our utmost benefit. Being aware of this in a very personal way, the task then becomes to create a good life within our obvious limitations. Why else get out of bed each day? And what else are we going to do anyway? But it serves no one to focus on what we don't have or what we can't do. Or what "society" thinks about it. These are only limitations that we place on ourselves, and eventually overwhelm the profile of a life unlived.
We all are blessed and burdened with different temperaments, personal histories, psychological make-ups, strengths and weaknesses, physical and medical challenges, and personal experiences that either place limitations on our access to traditional rewards and benefits, or provide opportunities to succeed that not everyone enjoys. Like many things, those kinds of rewards carry a great deal of importance when we don't have them. I've known many people successful in their love and work who were motivated by a fear of failure. I've also known people who are successful as human beings because traditional rewards meant virtually nothing to them. They are not happy because what they do makes them happy, but because they are happy to do what they do. They were and are essentially motivated by what they do, what contributions they make, and not by other people's opinions. How we engage the struggle, or whether or not we engage it at all, is what makes us who we are.
We are not defined by our limitations, though this is not entirely true. We are all limited by a fatal disease at birth, by our own mortality, which we either take for granted or use to our utmost benefit. Being aware of this in a very personal way, the task then becomes to create a good life within our obvious limitations. Why else get out of bed each day? And what else are we going to do anyway? But it serves no one to focus on what we don't have or what we can't do. Or what "society" thinks about it. These are only limitations that we place on ourselves, and eventually overwhelm the profile of a life unlived.
EndGame
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 4,677
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