Just read your profile. Now I think you need to re-read it, because from what I’ve read, your vast potential is not lost. You might have placed it on a shelf for a few years, but you certainly haven’t lost it. You, like I, live in California - so you know that our state is rife with problems in all sorts of areas. Especially in the very areas you’re concerned about: poverty, as an example. The number of homeless people in this state is growing at an alarming rate … and they need help. Homeless shelters, charity organizations, state, county and community programs are bursting at the seams. People in need are being turned away from assistance programs right and left due not only to lack of funds, but also due to a shortage of volunteers. Grab hold of a cause and make it your own. Do something for the little guy down on his luck. Become part of the solution. Re-visit your initial goals in life - you have the intelligence and educational background to make a major positive difference. We need people like you.
If you start hanging out in places where you’re needed, you’ll start meeting people who, like yourself, want to see changes enacted. That would not only fulfill your desire to form more meaningful friendships and exit the party crowd, it would also set you and your vast potential back on track.
Listen, I don’t even know you and I’ve got faith in what you can accomplish. You need to re-read your profile and re-gain that faith in yourself.
Don’t beat yourself up about all of the things you could have done / should have been doing. That’s just 20/20 hindsight and serves no purpose; it’s a complete and total waste of time and energy. The only positive that can come from looking back is in realizing where you went wrong and learning from it - which seems to be the path you’re already on. So now take that knowledge - and the wisdom of added years - and go forward.
Us fellow Californians down on our luck truly need you.
Aries