Have you checked out the "Stories of Recovery" forum? There are many stories on there from people who have achieved long-term sobriety, and many of them felt just as hopeless starting out (or even worse). Reading through those stories really gave me hope that I could do it, because they have been in the same place as me. Here's one example that I found really moving, there are many, many others:
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...-my-story.html
Stick around, you are welcome here, this forum is for the strugglers as well as the people who have gotten it together.