Lessons Learned

Something bad, possibly criminally bad, happened and so my former favorite Japanese pop star is in big trouble. He should be in big trouble. It makes me wonder if he's actually always been this way or if this was just an incredible lapse in judgment and common sense. I honestly don't know. He may have been a bad egg for decades and no one ever caught him until now. Or he may just have made this one mistake and will strive to never repeat it going forward if he can even go forward.

I want to forgive him. Just like all of Japan probably wants to forgive him. But there's a difference between forgiving someone and trusting them. I don't know if he's trustworthy. Only time will tell if this was just a weird one-off moment of crazy. I'd like to think that he's serious and wants to make amends, that he realizes the severity of what he's done, and is genuinely sorry. I know he's sorry for hurting his fans because he's said as much. But that's not the same thing as being sorry for his actions because he realizes they were wrong.

He wants to return to being a "spiritual pillar," but I don't even know if that's possible. The problem with Japanese idols is that they are considered role models. They are held to a very high standard so when they crash and burn, it's severely bad. He may have lost everything because of one choice, one moment. Was it worth it? Was the risk, the thrill, the enticement worth it? I doubt it and I'm pretty sure he's realizing that right now. Half the story may even be false news reporting (the rumor mill) and if it is, well, then it's not as bad as it seems to be right now. But if he is fully guilty of the entire thing, then it's bad. 

If anything, this situation has reminded me that it's wrong to esteem people so highly. Because people are going to let you down. I was shattered this week because of his stupid sin nature. But I shouldn't have been. I let myself get too attached to a flawed, sinful human being. I put him on a pedestal and when he fell off, well, it rocked me. But people are going to fail, they're going to sin, and they're not perfect. I should know since I am one of those flawed, failing, sinful people myself. There's only one Person who will never let me down. And I need to spend more time thinking of Him than focusing on infatuations that will disappoint me.