Christopher Brazy

Heath Ledger, one of my personal favorite actors, dies apparently of a heart attack at age 28 on 1-22-08. Sleeping pills were at the scene but it's believed they had little to do with it. He had been suffering from exhaustion, physically and emotionally.

Heath is known from his roles in such great films as Brokeback Mountain, the Joker (previously played by Jack Nicholson) in Batman - the Dark Knight, The Patriot (where he played alongside Mel Gibson), I'm Not There (Bob Dylan), 10 Things I Hate About You, Candy & A Knights Tale.

Heath had split from Michelle Willimas, who played his wife in Brokeback Mountain, and they have a 2-year old daughter, Matilda.

Heath said recently that "Dark Knight" and "I'm Not There," have took a heavy toll. He was "stressed out a little too much" during the "I'm Not There" Dylan film and had trouble sleeping while portraying the Joker, whom he referred to as a "psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy."

"Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night," Ledger told The New York Times. "I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going." The two Ambien pills he took to help him sleep worked only for an hour.

So while we grieve at such a great loss, at such a young age, what do we learn from it? Was it a fluke, a heart attack for a 28 year old? Was it a reaction from the sleeping pills? Sleepless nights and stress from his recent film roles? Or was it just a combination, perhaps a weak heart, the pills, all piled upon a massive hill of stress. Stress from the recent roles he chose, which have left him sleepless. Stress from having to identify with characters far from himself. Perhaps even stress from being apart from his daughter.

"A Knights Tale" touched me because it was a film not only about "changing your stars" and making it against all odds, but also a film about the relationship between a parent and a child. The father taking great sacrifice to offer his son a better life, the son returning to his father a man.

And what are we doing with our lives? We work long weeks, sometimes 80 hours. We sacrifice our home and family life to put everything into our business, our dream. We risk our home and lifes savings while the odds are firmly set against us making it. Stress, stress and more stress. Do we take time to treat ourselves? Do we find time for a family vacation? Do we make sure to pay attention when our children need it?

We never know how or when our time here will end. Remember to put first things first. Prioritize your life. Find the one thing that's important and focus on that. Everything else that tends to be a major crises, really isn't. Don't get stuck in the daily grind. Remember what really matters.