^ Just a footnote. You often see folks who come to SR, or AA, or Church and talk about trying to become a better person. But continuing to drink on and off sometimes to the point of complete misery.
I hated myself as a drunk. A byproduct of stopping was that I came to like myself more...I stopped doing drunken things, over which I had no control, that made me reprehensible to myself.
Sin and Morality had nothing to do with it for me. I just got to a point where I didn't want to die and I didn't want to hate myself anymore. So change was needed, but the absolute priority I think was to hit a realization that drink and myself had to part company. First things first.
Of course I have found lots more since that needed to change so I could continue to live and not hate myself...but that's another story.
P