CoffeeTime: Fame and Fortune Can Be Expensive

     The young lady had gigantic dreams. Visions of becoming a movie star filled her daydreams constantly. From the very first movie she saw as a child, and was entranced as the female lead lit up the big screen. She wanted to be her. Family ties, college degrees, being financially independent, marriage, children of her own - none of these came close to the importance of becoming an international star who was famous and wealthy. The only thing that truly mattered was her goal of having her name known worldwide.

     She worked hard to get what she wanted. Her obsessive drive and boundless energy saw her through endless acting and dance classes, cattle calls, and countless auditions for bit parts that she never received. She supported herself through those lean years doing anything she could to bring in enough money to pay the rent and buy beans.

     Years passed and finally, the hard stuff began to pay off. She signed with an agent, won a few bit parts, and got to play in a few television commercials. She began working her way up the ‘it pays to know the right people’ food chain. Two steps forward and three steps back. But eventually, she landed a minor part in a movie that hit the big time, which finally led to bigger and better things. 

     After years of slogging through, it all came together for her. All her hard work, knowing the right person, who put her in touch with the right people, who cast her in a major movie. Certainly not the female starring role, but a secondary role that saw a lot of screen time. Her name became synonymous with that acclaimed movie of the year, and seemingly overnight a few producers and directors were familiar with her name and her work. 

     She was on her way. 

     Many movies later, she was famous and wealthy…and trapped. She had it all and yet had lost so much. Fame became a prison, because any real privacy or freedom had become a distant memory. No longer could she go where and when she chose without being mobbed by adoring fans. Safety issues were a major issue, so she had to travel with a bodyguard at all times. Her siblings either jealously rejected her, avoided her from awe of her status, or used her as a gold mine. Several failed marriages and resentful children of those failures added to her problems. And the invaluable sense of peace, trust and being-loved-for-being-me that everyone cherishes? That had vanished into the same bottomless black hole that had swallowed her freedoms.

     Yes, she was famous and wealthy beyond her dreams. But at what cost?

     Contrast that life to one of purposely and intentionally serving her Creator, working to sustain and nourish real relationships, marrying only for love - for a lifetime, and deciding to let God guide her through the years. 

     Yes, this is a work of fiction. Or, is it really?