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Wasted Potential and Addiction

One of the greatest contributors to our addiction and depression is how much we waste our potential in life. We have such amazing capacity for self-expression, learning and growth, but when we waste our potential, we aren’t using our energy for good. Our addictions and mental health issues often result from letting our unprocessed emotions overtake us, making us direct our energy in detrimental ways. When we aren’t working with ourselves and our emotions in healthy ways, we’re stifling our incredible potential for healing and transformation.

Wasting our potential can happen in various different ways. Some of us give up on our creative pursuits because we don’t believe in ourselves. Many of us stop making time for our interests and talents because we think we’re not good enough. We quit our passion projects. We give up on our education. We don’t push ourselves to reach for the career we truly want. We settle for the easier option, the less rigorous path. Our lack of self-belief becomes a heavy weight that we carry with us for years of our lives, that holds us down and keeps us from reaching for bigger and better things for ourselves. We give up on our dreams. We stop trying. We stop fighting for ourselves. We give up hope of being happy or feeling fulfilled.

Our potential is limitless when we apply our energy to our desires and work to manifest them. When we stop applying our energy in positive ways, we can contribute to our own decline. Wasting our potential makes us feel depressed, unfulfilled and unsatisfied. We feel disappointed in ourselves for giving up on the things that made us truly happy. We turn to external things to try to feel better about ourselves and our circumstances. We crave the high from addictive substances and behaviors because it distracts us from the pain of our defeat. Wasted potential can be the driving force behind our deep unhappiness and lack of fulfillment, which can contribute to our mental health issues and addictions.

Taking advantage of our tremendous potential means instilling belief in ourselves and our dreams. We have to convince ourselves to have faith in our journey. Without this faith, we’re contributing to our downfall, often without realizing it. We have to see our potential and not take it for granted. We can start by examining what areas of our lives are full of our talent, full of possibility, potential and hope, areas that we’ve likely been neglecting. Our potential lies in our creativity, our quest for knowledge, our natural talents and gifts, all the things that bring us joy and peace.

The community at Enlightened Recovery has years of personal experience with addiction, so we understand firsthand the emotional struggles you’re experiencing. Call (833) 801-LIVE today.

Begin Your Recovery at Enlightened Recovery

Enlightened Recovery is here to help you or your loved one overcome drug and alcohol addiction as well as co-occurring mental health disorders. Our holistic treatment programs treat the whole person in recovery. We have locations in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.

Get the help that you deserve now with Enlightened Recovery.