Wednesday, January 13, 2010

What Lessons You Can Learn From The King Of Pop's Last Moon Walk

By Zig Diez

The King of Pop, Michael Jackson, has been widely known for his popular moon walk. It is a dance step wherein he has been associated with. Wikipedia defines the moon walk as "a dance technique that presents the illusion of the dancer being pulled backwards while attempting to walk forward."

I thought about this meaning and came to realize that there is a stark similarity between Michael Jackson's life and his popular moon walk. This post will attempt to bring about the morals we can learn from the similarity. In no way am I attempting to degrade Michael Jackson and his achievements but will only focus on the moral side.

Considered to be the most successful entertainer of all time, Michael Jackson sold over 750 million records and won several major awards including 13 Grammies and 13 number one singles. All his lifetime earnings were estimated to be around $ 500 million and this does not even include his music catalog holdings which is rumored to be over a billion dollars worth.

Even though he had gained so much fame and fortune, which he achieved since he was young, the end part of his life was mostly filled with struggles of depression and of financial debts. Many would readily agree that his health further declined when he sequestered himself from his family, friends and financial woes. Millions of people have come to love him since he was young, but despite the outpouring of love, he died filled with loneliness, a broken heart and depression.

With all the bad circumstances that happened to Michael Jackson during his last days of his life, I thus refer to his final years as his final moon walk. I refer to his last years of his life as his final moon walk because no matter how much he tried to move forward in his life, his actions only caused him to move backwards. But unlike the moon walk, everything that happened to him in his final years was not mere illusions. Here are things about the life of Michael Jackson that I think will give us lessons in life:

1.) Always live within your means - Despite earning millions of dollars every year, during the last years of his life it is said that Michael Jackson spends $ 20 to 30 million more than what he earns with his lavish lifestyle. As a result he was deeply in debt. Various people including a Bahrain sheik accused him of not paying what he owed them. He lost his well beloved Neverland Ranch. Although his assets outweigh his debt by an estimated $200 million U.S dollars, Michael Jackson died owing more than $ 400 million. While it is true that as a "star" he earned the right to live a lavish lifestyle because he deserved it, he should have lived well within his means and should have properly taken care of his finances. Because of his failure to do such, it further contributed to his depression.

2.) Life may be tough, but you've got to learn to face your problems - Michael Jackson may have achieved a certain amount of success in his life, but he never learned to face his problems. When he became depressed he turned to anything from plastic surgery, isolation and drug abuse. After he was accused of child molestation, he was so depressed that he was never the same again. J Randy Taraborrelli described how he escaped from his problem in an article for the daily mail, "He surrounded himself with children, animals and a false reality - so much so that he never learned how to cope in the real world. He never wanted to grow up, and his managers encouraged these eccentricities when they should have encouraged therapy."

3.) True happiness and joy never came from fame and fortune - Despite what the records and others say about Michael Jackson's successes as an entertainer, it cannot hide the fact that his last days in earth was not filled with satisfaction and peace. Yes he may have broken records, evolved the music industry, pierced through racial barrier or gained the love of millions of fans around the globe but he died with so much depression, the feeling of unloved and unhappy. His is isolation from his family and friends did not even help him at all but in fact worsened his problems.

Let me stop here and allow you to do your evaluation of Michael Jackson's last moon walk. There might be more lessons to be digested out his final years of his life and I pray that whatever you will learn from it, it would help achieved a better moon walk in your final years on earth.

About the Author:

No comments:

Post a Comment