Cautionary Tale: What You Want Won't Make You Happy

Over coffee at Birdman Eating (probably the best cafe-style eatery in Melbourne) with some friends today, I discussed the common misconception that exceptionally attractive/successful/rich folks have perfect lives. I think we're all prone to self-pity at one time or another in our lives, and that's when we catch a glimpse of the magazine cover with Jude Law on the front and snort indignantly at the idea of him ever feeling the same way.

But of course, he (or whoever else) probably does. This is an interesting story about a rich, young, handsome, German footballer who just couldn't cope.

...most of the international football community has since Deisler's retirement struggled to come to terms with the background for Basti Fantasti's decision but this will presumably be revealed when Deisler's book ("Zurück ins Leben. Die Geschichte eines Fußballspielers." - "Back to Life - The story of a Footballer") co-written by Michael Rosentritt is published on September 29. According to the publisher, the book will uncover Deisler's passion and love of the game as well as his paranoia and depression. But the book will undoubtedly provide new ground for criticising the social trauma inflicted on young footballers and the unbearable pressure put on their fragile shoulders.

Particularly poignant is his realisation that, sitting in his mansion with his Benz in the driveway and more money in the bank than he could get through in a decade, he still felt that 'something was missing.'

I guess if you ain't right, you ain't right. And if you're rich, famous, or generally successful, you're assumed to be beyond it.

Then again, we seem to be pretty crap at understanding why people slip through the gaps no matter what their social standing.