3 SKILLS YOU ACQUIRE AS AN ADDICT THAT CAN TURN INTO A SUPERPOWER FOR GOOD.
As a former addict, I can look back over all the years I suffered from addiction and tell you one thing that stands out more than anything… Addicts will find a way. Not only is an addict extremely creative, but also ambitious, of course in a negative way.
An addict will always find a way to get high. Finding drugs and using drugs is a bit of a scavenger hunt sometimes, but an addict in full-blown addiction will find it.
The thing about addiction is when an addict goes into recovery they often lose their creative ways and their ambition goes out the window. This is shameful. All that passion to find drugs can be used as a superpower for seeking a really good life.
I have been clean for over 8.5 years and I look back on who I used to be while addicted to drugs and realize some of those skills I have evolved and turned into a good thing.
1. NETWORKING
To move amongst the shadows of the black market you have to know people. Of course, you see people on tv buying crack on the corner but for the most part in real life that isn’t how it works to buy drugs.
If you use meth, for instance, you know a lot of people that do meth. You know who always has meth and you know who is doing big things so you can always get more. If you are a full-blown addict, running out of a drug is a nightmare.
People using drugs hang out with other people using drugs to normalize their behavior. When you are doing bad things the rest of the world frowns upon you need people near you that are doing the same bad things so you don’t feel so bad.
For the love of the drug, you will find yourself in places and hanging out with people that would never happen if you weren’t an addict. But that is the beauty of networking.
In the business world, you gravitate to the people that can help grow your business or you learn who to borrow sugar from, one way or another. You can use networking skills to find better jobs and learn trades to help better your life.
What an addict doesn’t realize is they have been practicing networking all throughout their addiction and if they realize it, they can take those skills and use them for good things as well.
2. CREATIVITY
Have you ever seen a meth pipe? It’s kind of impressive the glass pipes people blow to get high with. I can assure you without meth, I would have never taken a blow torch and a glass tube and made a glass creation EVER! When you want to get high you will find that you have abilities you never would have discovered unless you desperately needed to.
This can be transferred over into recovery. If you want something bad enough, why not get as creative as you were when you got high? Why not think outside of the box and try things that you never thought you would? If you use that same passion and drive to think outside the box doing drugs, you can do the same for good. Those skills you learned from the dark side can work in the light too.
3. Drive
There is no mountain high enough to keep someone in active addiction away from their drug of choice. There is no law or mandatory minimum that will stop drug use. If you take all the negativity out of a drug addict’s mission to find drugs and look at the hurdles they cleared to find a way, it’s actually impressive. It is sad but impressive.
The drive of an addict is like a runaway train with no breaks. It is important to remind people in recovery of that drive and help them to see that that same ambition and drive can be used for so many good things. Remind them that if they wanted something that bad they made it happen. They acquired those skills during active addiction and now they have to see that they can make their lives better by putting those skills to work for jobs, helping others, and to keep themselves on the right track.
Conclusion
There are so many people in active addiction that have given up on themselves. Yes, they are involved with nefarious activity. Yes, they are making bad decisions. But, if you sift through the time they feel they have lost due to addiction, you can find some gold to make your world of recovery more successful. Networking, creativity, and drive can boost a person’s chances at success in any pursuit. Many addicts and people in recovery don’t see this until you point it out. If you have a loved one that is battling or once battled addiction, I recommend you help them to be aware of skills they didn’t even know they had.
