Living outside the box that society puts us is not easy. It is not easy to swim against the current. However, those who try to do so are those who help move the society forward. They usually pay a price for it though. It comes with pressure and stress that they sometimes develop coping mechanism to handle.
Fela Kuti, who in many ways lived outside the box in his society is a typical example. He decided to create his own music genre, reject the Christianity that he was raised in, fight government oppression and corruption. He was a man who inevitably brought a lot of stress upon himself. It is more stressful to swim against the current than to swim with it. Many people say the Cannabis that he abused was his way of coping.
Martin Luther king Jr. Decided to fight for equality among races during the period of segregation. He was a man who also lived in constant fear of assassination. And eventually he was. He brought stress upon himself by the choices he made, though noble. Martin Luther King Jr. though a reverend was a serial adulterer. One of his colleagues in the struggle said that was his way of coping with the stress. Though he was assassinated at the age of 39, autopsy revealed that he had the heart of a sixty year old. Doctors believed this was due to stress.