Differentiating between the alcoholic living in my head and my true self helps me. Some people have trouble with the concept, but if you've ever tried to quit and then 48 hours later you have this debate raging in your head with one voice saying
drink again, just one more time, and the other voice saying
no, I MUST stop, then you probably have some idea what I am talking about.
I regard those two voices as coming from two distinct entities, and I have to treat them very differently. The alcoholic (for the most part) gets ignored. If I could evict him from my head I would. Since I can't I have had to learn to live peacefully with him. But I have stopped taking his advice. It was all lies and led to a mountain of trouble.
That's enough to eliminate drinking as a problem. I stop taking the alcoholic's advice about drinking and refuse to drink. But eliminating a drinking problem might not be the only step required to build a happy sober life. It wasn't for me. I had to take additional steps. I had to do things for the other guy living in my head - the true me. I spent decades neglecting him and taking care of the alcoholic. The true me was underdeveloped and didn't know how to handle many things life throws at me.
I find doing things to help that guy grow is my path to happiness. (Cue the Two Wolves story...)
Best of Luck on Your Journey!
