Justin Bieber has gotten a lot of flack in recent years, from the media and his fans alike, for his increasingly outlandish and bad behavior.
From illegally bringing his pet monkey into Germany to peeing in a mop bucket at a restaurant, the newly adult Bieber has seemed a far cry from the teen singing sensation who attracted the love of millions.
Bieber also has a history of getting very “real” on social media and sharing what matters when it matters, without hiding behind fame and a fortress of media protection.
Justin owns up and reveals all
In an Instagram post this week, Justin shared his own inside experience with getting so famous at such a young age, after being discovered on YouTube by Scooter Braun as a cherubic thirteen-year-old.
He explained the negative affect that the power, privilege, and pampering had on him as he grew into a young adult, eventually resulting in a very public downward spiral.
"Have [you] noticed the statistics of child stars and the outcome of their life," he wrote. "There is an insane pressure and responsibility put on a child [whose] brain, emotions, frontal lobes (decision making) aren't developed yet."
In the post, Bieber shared how he found himself "...18 with no skills in the real world, with millions of dollars and access to whatever I wanted."
Bieber's troubled background
Justin spent his early years in Ontario, Canada. He was raised by a single, teenaged mother and busked on the streets to share his love of music.
Once he became a huge star, he never had anyone telling him no in his formative years. Even schooling was thrown to the wayside to focus on building the Bieber music empire.
He owns his mistakes
"I started doing pretty heavy drugs at 19 and abused all my relationships," Bieber wrote. "I became resentful, disrespectful to women, and angry. I became distant to everyone who loved me, and I was hiding behind, a shell of a person that [I] had become."
This progressed into an adulthood that was completely out of control: "By 20, I made every bad decision you could have thought of and went from one of the most loved and adored people in the world to the most ridiculed, judged, and hated person in the world."
How his marriage changed everything
Bieber confides that he has come out on the other side of all that darkness, and credits the commitment he made to his wife, Hailey Baldwin.
"Now I am navigating the best season of my life 'MARRIAGE' !! Which is an amazing, crazy, new responsibility," he wrote. "You learn patience, trust, commitment, kindness, humility, and all of the things it looks like to be a good man."
Share your struggles
Bieber has previously posted about his mental health struggles and even why it led to him taking a break from the industry and taking better care of himself and his mental health needs. Love, commitment, and faith have helped him.
"All this to say even when the odds are against you, keep fighting," Bieber ended his note. "Be kind today, be bold today and love people today."
We all have our struggles, albeit not as public and on the same scale as Bieber, but we all suffer and we all sometimes need to let ourselves take a step back and reflect and take better care of ourselves.
Never be afraid to ask for help, or admit your mistakes. There's always hope of a better tomorrow!
More inspiring musicians:
- The Misunderstood Brilliance of Pop’s Party Girl, Ke$ha
- Social House on Turning Pain Into Pop Art
- Aaliyah’s Forgotten Light: Her Powerful Legacy Beyond Death — and R. Kelly
- Dead Set on Living: How Going “Straight Edge” Manifested Greatness for Liam Cormier
- Ariana Grande is Proof of the Power of Crying in Public
