Alcohol WAS a problem, for me, but it's crystal clear that removing the alcohol hasn't removed my problems.
I will always have external problems--they are called "life on life's terms". Blowing out my tire this week had nothing to do with my alcoholism. But my immediate emotional reaction (Why ME? I just bought these freakin' expensive tires a year ago! Can't I ever catch a BREAK?) had everything to do with it, or rather, with my underlying INTERNAL problem.
I took care of the tire, didn't drink, counted my blessings that the tire place had the exact one in stock, that I could afford a new one (not that it didn't pinch a little), that it happened in front of my office in the middle of the afternoon instead of a lonely road in the middle of the night.