Growing Pains
You can’t cheat life.
That statement is always the truest form of wisdom that you can ever give a person. And in the case of Miami Heat forward Michael Beasley’s recent admittance to a Houston-area rehabilitation center, nothing could be more accurate. Beasley’s recent allusions to suicide on his Twitter account and his previous implications in widely publicized drug usage incidents only point to the fact that this is a young man who never learned how to properly cope with significant turmoil.
And it’s our fault.
Everyday, children in this country are blatantly mishandled by adults who shield and protect them from consequences because they are athletically inclined. Beasley is a familiar case study of this phenomenon. The product of five transfers to six high schools in four years, no one ever put basketball in perspective for Beasley. Now life is setting the parameters for him. This is a recipe for an adult who has issues processing tough life instances like rejection, criticism and reprimand. And it hurts him in the long run. Too many people are depressed because of this phenomenon. This depression is often not diagnosed and leads to self-medication, a travesty. The lucky few, such as Beasley, get a chance to identify and correct this behavioral stigma at an early age. We just hope it’s soon enough for him to adapt to his new reality. He has so much to live for, its hard for us to even identify how he’s feeling when he writes this:
“I feel like the whole world is against me I can’t win for losin”
Or
“Feelin like it’s not worth livin!!!!!!! I’m done”
I just hope Beasley’s family and friends rally around him on this one and not make it about the money or the stardom but make it about maturity, the thing from which fathers, teachers and leaders are made. It would be disappointing if it wasn’t about that. If this thing turns into a PR issue or of protecting one’s image, then it becomes rooted in serving the very thing that lead him to this important crossroads in his life.
Honestly, I think Beasley will make it through this hurdle in his life and I am pulling for him to do it valiantly. It’s way too easy for us to lump him in the category of athletes who have squandered the opportunity to live lives that we so arrogantly think we could handle with no problem. While the money and fame is an elixir for some, its a toxin for others.
So Mike, turn off your phone, log off the web, and turn off the TV. Sit back, reflect and take all the time you need. We’ll all be here waiting for you when you get done. In the interim our prayers and support are with you as you take this time to work on yourself. That’s a noble cause we can all support. So, good luck with life. You can’t cheat it.
