Celebrities As Role Models

Let's take a brief look at a fictitious celebrity actor, Ned Nesbit.

His father, famous actor Ben Nesbit was born Stanley Krosnowski, a Polish-Jew. Ned is born and raised in L.A. He is around five feet six inches tall, has a lean body, great hair and his head is a little larger in proportion to his body--all perfect for the camera.

At thirty he has been through two marriages, has several kids and is a high paid super hero actor. He has a lot of Hollywood friends, is a left wing nut ball like his dad, a fake environmentalist like his buddies and expects everyone to be politically correct even if he isn't.

Ned's parents were Hollywood elite, but now over fifty his father no longer gets the roles, but he is still a womanizer and his wife tolerates it. She is paranoid that he might dump her, has had her entire body reconstructed countless times, including her pearly whites--eats like a mouse, drinks gin like a fish and has a personal trainer who gets paid for more than just training.

Ned's parents did not have a lot of time for him--busy, busy, busy--party, party, party. They just paid him off and let him do as he pleased. Needless to say the drugs and alcohol started early. His parents knew what he was up to, but what the hey, they did it too. He just needed to sow his wild oats and get it out of his system--the same as they never did.

Ned is very popular with young fans. He has made countless action hero movies and a ton of money. He snorts coke, drinks vodka by the case and often brings his latest bimbo to the set to keep his ego filled up. Your stereotype bad boy actor. Ned is a train wreck--some role model.

While on location in Tibet, Ned was introduced to a very wise Buddhist monk with a long lineage and about the same age as Ned. Standing side by side the monk looked like a young boy compared to the life tortured Ned. For reasons unknown to even Ned, he was awe struck by this calm, happy, carefree Buddhist.

The monk took pity on the extremely unhappy Ned and introduced him to Shinay meditation, the simple discipline of mindfulness.

The more Ned practiced the meditation techniques the clearer his mind became. He stopped the coke first and noticed he felt lighter and less afraid--next he dropped the need for heavy drinking in favor of social drinking. He kept meditating for short periods several times a day and continued to feel better and better.

He met a starlet who had also cleaned up her life. They married, have two beautiful children and Ned is an even more popular actor, he has spread his wings beyond action hero in favor of comedic roles and sitcoms and loves his work. Politically, he is now a middle of the road conservative.

Ned and the monk remain good friends--Ned feels he owes his life to the humble young monk.
Ned lectures at universities sighting his own life as an example of the destructive power of drugs and alcohol. He is on the board of several youth organizations and constantly spreads his message about positive thinking and optimism every chance he gets.

Ned has also written a bestselling book about his life and the power of mindfulness and meditation in terms that westerners, in particular young adults, can relate to. What a guy. Too bad Ned is a fictitious character--we could all use a lot more real life Ned's as role models.