Anyone who knows me well, will know that I am an advocate of George Michael. I like his honesty, down to earth approach to life and mostly his perseverance. I don’t believe he got to where he is now without challenges, yet great determination to pull through the difficult times.
As we found out just before Christmas 2011, he is blessed to be here still, and is about to release an emotive song, ‘White Light,’ about his gratitude for being alive.
The song reflects on his life and the chance he has been given to continue to live. It also questions why one person may die and another lives. His lyrics, ‘One more pill, just one more beer, one more less star in the atmosphere,’ reminds us of all the famous people who have lost their lives in the past few years, and particularly those who have lost it through prescription medicines and/or alcohol. George himself has openly discussed some of the issues he has had in the past with some substances.
His battle with pneumonia was unrelated to his past but must have made him think about his life and the fact he pulled through his illness. He has been given another chance. I am guessing it must be upsetting to see people he worked with, like Whitney Houston, die at such a young age. It is also upsetting for my generation who grew up with these people on our TVs, on our radios and our walkmans (!) It has given me pause for thought too.
I fought pneumonia twice, the first time being the worst when I was 15 years old, when the likes of George Michael, Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson were always in the charts. I listened to their music when I could do little else, and it uplifted me and helped to keep me positive. What else helped me through? It was the medication I had to take, that helped my body to fight the illness, and to this day I have an inhaler that I use daily, because the pneumonia left me with asthma. Even George says in his song, ‘Was it science that saved me?’
I have already said it many times in blogs (and training sessions), when we talk about drugs we should not describe them as ‘good’ drugs or ‘bad’ drugs. Sometimes those very drugs that can be helpful to one person and save their life can be harmful to another if they are misused. The misuse of medicines/prescription drugs is on the increase. We need to be more aware of this and to stop being frightened to talk about drugs. We hear about the famous people. Scarily, they still continue to die. We don’t always hear about those who are not well known.
Life is short and precious.
