I’ve seen many anti-drug commercials, but one stood out to me the most.
Three teenage boys sit on a couch. They are not in jail, haven’t been in a car accident, and are not dead. Fast forward to the future. They haven’t moved. They sit on the same couch. Even though the consequences don’t seem severe they are not living up to their full potential.
I can’t help but wonder about these boys. Why were they choosing to confine themselves to a couch instead of experiencing life?
I then realized, I chose that very same path.
They are not living up to their full potential
Like a warm blanket, drugs covered my insecurity and anxiety. Numbing my worries and temporarily blocking problems from my consciousness.
Eventually, the drugs started to feel more like a wet blanket. My insecurities worsened and I began to isolate. I’d sit watching television for hours at a time, sometimes days. The depression and anxiety following the come down was terrible-so I’d stay high, and the cycle repeated.
I wasn’t living life to my fullest potential. I knew this, even with all the discomfort and chaos happening internally.
But knowing and doing are two separate things.
I eventually got clean and sober. At the age of 27.
My emotional maturity level was that of a teenager, the same age I started using. Drugs had been my primary coping method for so long. I now had to learn to deal with life and feelings.
With the help of 12 step meetings, therapy, doctors, friends, family, and God, I started down this road of mental healthiness (I think I just made that up).
I dealt with what I needed to and in the process discovered purpose and passions I never knew I had.
I eventually got clean and sober
If I kept numbing myself I might still be on that same couch today (probably a newer couch, but you get the point) or worse. I wouldn’t be living for what I have been purposed for.
Each one of us is created with gifts and talents. Every. Single. One.
If you are under the influence and reading this, you were created for a purpose.
If you are anxious, depressed, angry, hurt, manic and everything else in between, you were created for a purpose.
Whoever you are, you were created for a purpose.
What’s getting in the way of reaching your full potential?