“Judy Garland died 6 months after her London concerts. She was 47.”
Quoted from the movie Judy (2019), starring Renée Zellweger.
Some of you may be familiar with who Judy Garland is; she is best known for her portrayal of Dorothy in the movie The Wizard of Oz (1939). Garland was an international movie star of her time. My interpretation the movie portrayal played by Renée Zellweger, Judy Garland suffered from addiction most of her adult life. One source claims Garland died from an overdose of barbiturates.
I don’t know for a fact if Judy Garland was an addict or not. But the movie reminded me how a person can still be successful in specific areas of life but be broken inside. And they may never be healed from their brokenness. Some people think that to attain high levels of success sometimes you have to have something “wrong” with you. I don’t buy into that idea. I think that’s just an excuse to stay the same, to not be transformed, to stay broken. Given a choice, I have a hard time believing anyone wants to stay mentally, emotionally, or spiritually broken.
Sadly, brokenness is a reality of life. There are so many reasons on how brokenness manifests itself in one’s life, but ultimately it all leads to the same result…pain. Pain in the mind, as we struggle to understand our plight and question our own sanity. Pain in the heart, as our emotions swing to and fro from ecstatic joy to depressive crying. Pain in the spirit, as we harbor self-hatred and blame for the life we’re living through. Again, no one really wants to stay broken. The reality is sometimes we don’t know how to get out of it.
If you’ve been in recovery from addiction for any amount of time, consider yourself one of the lucky ones. Some of us never get out. We die from our addictions. We leave this life broken inside. So be grateful whether you have one day or 30 years clean and sober. Some will never experience what it means to live clean and sober for even a day.
If you’re suffering from addiction or know someone who is, seek out help in your local area. Find a place that specializes in helping people recover from addiction. Get some insight and most of all hang in there: either for yourself or the person you know who is suffering. When it comes to addiction, it doesn’t care if you have status or wealth. It affects anyone who is broken inside.
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