Be addicted to your passions, not your distractions

Letter from a therapist who's been there

We all are moving through our days in search of something to make us feel better. Escaping into a book or reaching for another high. Hours spent trying to avoid, disconnect, and stuff down.

We become addicted to our distractions.

Addicted to reaching a number on the scale or measurement of a waist. Addicted to the burn from a sip of something strong or the escape from a high. Attached to an unhealthy love, with hopes of a different result. The escape into a reality outside of our own, as we read from page to page. Isolation in bed scrolling through content.

We become addicted to these distractions.

I think I too was once a victim of this. Like most of us become. Thinking that emotions shouldn’t be expressed because they are too much. Leaning on external resources to escape the traumas from the past.

Behaviors become a patterns. Patterns become addictions. The idea without them feels terrifying, as what would we do. Sitting in silence with the thoughts of our traumas racing through our head. Why would we do sure a thing?

So we become addicted to these distractions.

Distractions work… until they don’t.

Who we are starts to get lost. The isolation separates us from connection. Comparison daily makes us believe that our reality just isn’t good enough. As we push ourselves to shift a number on a scale, our identity withers away. The shape-shifting and obsession consumes our every thought. With each sip & high, the emotions that we were once trying to avoid become what we can’t.

See the distractions become behaviors, the behaviors become patterns, and the patterns become addictions. A cycle which feels impossible to break.

I too was once a victim of this. Thinking that becoming addicted to your distractions would make all that’s around you feel a little better.

Eventually, you start to learn that being addicted to your distractions doesn’t save you but rather your passion.

Having a passion and purpose allows us to step into a life free from the chains of the past. Purpose and passion doesn’t have to be this grand thing. It connects us to our inner emotions and who we truly are.

It could be…

the passion of experiencing the world in all its shapes & forms.

the purpose of waking up to care and connect with the ones you love.

the passion of creativity in self-expression.

the purpose of constant self-discovery and openness to learn something new.

the passion of embracing failure as redirection.

the purpose of leaning into your aspirations.

the passion of expression with strength and compassion.

the purpose of giving kindness and empowerment.

the passion of taking setbacks as stepping stones towards your dreams.

Whatever your passion & purpose may be, chose to be addicted to the things that truly connects you to who you truly are. Rather than stuffing and disconnecting. Embrace it all, so you can live in patterns & behaviors that connects to your soul.