Corey Haim, starred in a film called “Lost Boys”. The title, so prophetic, gives us pause to consider what we are doing, and that means all of us, to help kids grow into joyful, creative, and competent adults.

His friends are doing what friends do, looking for reasons and who to blame. There are plenty of places to point fingers. Corey Feldman, a good childhood pal and actor pointed toward Hollywood, stating it needs to take better care of child celebrities.

Addiction experts blame greedy physicians. Fingers are pointed this way and that. So, why are there so many gifted talents that end up destroying their lives? Sure, we can play the blame game; it is everywhere, all the time. It is in politics, business, education, health care and at home.

Perhaps we need to zoom into a closer range. Corey Haim, Heath Ledger, Michael Jackson, Tiger Wood, Brittany Spears, and a host of other celebrities that are or have been addicted are merely the pointers to problems that are everywhere.

Is it stress that goes to overload that causes us to smoke, drink, eat, pop pills? Or maybe, just maybe, it is that we have become like the lost boy and have lost any real direction about what really matters.

What does matter? It is time to open discussions about what is beyond the fame and glory that seems to satiate us for a brief time until the cigarette, the alcohol, the rich desserts, or the pain pills no longer work. Then we up the ante for more and more, until finally the body and mind say “No”.

More importantly, how do we find the way beyond the glitz and glitter of celebrity foolishness to become true to ourselves? I’d like to hear from those of you who were lost boys or girls and what helped you turn you lives around. This will become part of an e-book I am writing about the courage to change. Each of you will receive a CD about transforming patterns to their positive, healthy opposites.

Please email responses to sylvia@ceoptions.com or just post your response in the comments section below.