Corey MonteithCorey Monteith who played heartthrob Finn Hudson on the Fox hit “Glee” was found dead in a Vancouver hotel room on Saturday.  He was just 31 years old.

31 years old!  

Staff found Monteith’s body after he missed his check out time. Sadly we’ve seen this kind of scenario play out so many times before; another young person that had everything to live for but became consumed by addiction.

Although we don’t know for certain drugs played a part in the stars death, we know Monteith struggled for years with substance abuse.

Monteith, James Gandolfini, Heath Ledger, who’s next?

We all look at these celebrities like they have everything. We look at stars and celebrities like Monteith and Gandolfini like they’re larger than life. Young people look up to them and say to themselves, “If only we had their life. If only we had the fame, power, and money they have!”

They spend hours fantasizing about what life would be like. “If I could only catch passes like Aaron Hernandez of the New England Patriots did.  I wouldn’t have gone off the rails like him.  I would have never killed anybody and I’d never done any drugs.”

But here’s the thing…

No matter who you are, no matter how successful and how much money you have, no matter how many million people idolize you, addiction can still catch you and destroy you.

                                                                                                                                                                                      
It doesn’t matter whether you’re addicted to pain killers, anti-depressants, alcohol, or gambling…

Addiction is a serious issue in the United States.

We love to medicate.  We love to be medicated and we never think about at the long-term effects on our body. Drugs and alcohol addiction start as an easy way out.  When you drink or take drugs you don’t have to get in touch with how you really feel.

Life gets difficult so you put a Band-Aid over it and when the meds wear off, the Band-Aid starts to peel off.  You put another Band-Aid back over it again, but eventually as man addicts find out without help the end of the road is never far away.

The list of people goes on and on, yet as a nation we never learn.  We look at these people and we say “If I had everything they have I wouldn’t do this.”

But really look at your own life, what are your own addictions?  Use somebody else’s experience as a wakeup call for you.

Take Corey Monteith, James Gandolfini, and Aaron Hernandez and think about your own life.  Nobody is immune from addiction. It can hit you no matter who or where you are in life, unless you acknowledge its presence and take control before it consumes you.

Granted their addictions and life choices may not be the same as yours, but I want you to look at your own life choices, your own addiction, and have your own wake up call.

Isn’t it time we learned from other people instead of having something bad happen to us?

I feel terrible for the family and friends of Corey Monteith. But here is a young man who had everything to live for but who chose something else. Yes, once addiction takes hold, like a fire it spreads out of control really fast, but someone has to leave a cigarette on the sofa or the iron on to cause the first sparks.

Take control of your decisions, and be aware of how quickly and powerfully addiction can take hold. Make the right choices and take responsibility for every action you take.  This is a public service message brought to you by David Wygant!