Live Up to Your Potential

Everybody on the planet has certain needs; the need for air, food, and water. The need to be a part of and accepted by the tribe or common needs. One of my, Bryan Hullihen's, salient needs is self-actualization which is the attainment of my goals or the living up to my potential. In the very beginning of my personal recovery when I used to say, "My name is Bryan Hullihen and I am an alcoholic.", I would feel a sense of dignity returned to me after spending years as if I had none at all.  That's because during my active addiction I was not living up to my potential and in recovery I have a chance to reach my own self-actualization. The quandary is that although I was not living up to my potential in active addiction I was doing the absolute best I could with the tools I had at the time and the information that I was armed with. This is difficult for many people to accept but you too have done the very best you could every second of every day of your life. The truth is that if you could have done better you would have. Think about it like this; many people say that they could have behaved better and they are disappointed in themselves but they were angry, or tired, or hungry, or sick, or they didn't know XYZ, or so and so did this or that etc. The list could be added to in myriad ways but I think I made my point. The fact is that at that moment something held you back and if it didn't you would have done better so you did the best you could. Until I could admit that I was an alcoholic I could not grow because instead of identifying what was holding me back I simply thought I was a bad person. We have all done the best we could with the information and tools we had at the time so let's continue to arm ourselves with truth and add to our tools so we can perform better and reach our potential. My name is Bryan Hullihen and today I know that my only limits are set by me. Thank you for your time and support.

Your friend,
Bryan Hullihen