Think of the most recent movie you saw that did not have a happy ending. Could you think of one? I couldn’t.
Some movies do leave you hanging, like Christopher Nolan’s film Inception. Other great movies may even end tragically. But overall, we tend to expect that happy ending.
Imagine your life as a movie. Are you living your happy ending? Or are you faking it and your life is actually a tragedy?
Don’t worry; you still have time to write a happy ending. Others have, and you can too.
Daniel Radcliffe
“You can’t keep doing this. You’ve got too much to lose.” -Gary Oldman
Daniel Radcliffe, better known as Harry Potter has had an amazing acting career. On the outside, the 22-year-old seemed to have it all: talent, money, fame, and an amazing girlfriend. Yet, he had a secret struggle–alcoholism. Radcliffe was a high-functioning alcoholic.
He drank alone at home, blacking out nearly every time he drank. Although he didn’t drink at work, he’d come into work drunk and admits that in some Harry Potter scenes he is “just gone,” “dead behind the eyes.”
Co-star Gary Oldman and many others tried to confront his alcoholism, but Radcliffe describes that “I had to come to the realization myself.” He realized the negative impact drinking had to his health and social life.
The inner tragedy has been resolved. After several years of battling with alcohol, Radcliffe hasn’t touched a drop since August 2010. He expressed, “stopping has shown me a world of happiness that I didn’t think was possible.”
Brigadier General Stanley Cherrie
“Stan, you have a choice: You can go to rehab or you can take another drink and die.” –Surgeon General Eric Schoomaker
Brigadier General Stanley Cherrie, 70, has led a successful life too. He served in the military for 34 years, flew helicopters during Vietnam, lost a leg to a land mine, commanded troops in Kuwait as lieutenant colonel, and in Bosnia as brigadier general.
Yet Cherrie had an internal war with alcohol for those 34 years that only worsened after his retirement in 1998. The war reached its turning point when Cherrie, accompanied by his daughter, met with comrades for the 20th anniversary of Operation Desert Storm. At the dinner table, he collapsed, falling right out of his chair.
Initially, Cherrie refused to get treatment because he did not have a problem with alcohol and needed to take care of his wife. His family had pleaded with him for years to stop drinking, but finally, Surgeon General Schoomaker’s words sunk in, and Cherrie decided to go to rehab.
He explains, “I’m not the smartest guy in the world, but when God nearly kills you and you have a seizure in front of 300 of your high-ranking best friends, it’s time to do something.”
Now, Cherrie spends most of his time taking care of his wife and sharing his story–hoping it can help someone else to seek treatment.
You
Where’s your happy ending? You can still write it. Whether you are 22 or 70, there is always hope. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that we have the opportunity to change ourselves–we get stuck in the cycle of thinking that everything is bad and nothing will work out right. But a strong committment to change from you, coupled with excellent support and treatment can change a life. We know–we’ve helped thousands of others write happy endings.
If you are experiencing a happy ending now, please share it with us!