Welcome BostonJames.

As an atheist I have little problems with the Higher power concept. I translate that to mean Helping Potential and by that I mean doing the things that I need to do in order to live free of active addiction. Another way I see the HP deal as Helping People. In active addiction I surrounded myself with unhelpful people. Now i take great care to avoid those that would cause me harm. Instead I join in with others that lift me up emotionally. As I do likewise for them.

As for powerless, I did feel powerless at times over my addiction. Was I completely incapable of not drinking...no, of course not. Otherwise how was I able to stop that behavior as I recover from a once hopeless, despicable situation as alcoholism. To me its all a matter of perspective.

You may find the following links useful as a action plan for recovery.

SOS and LifeRing
SMART Tools and SMART Articles
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Recovery Tools from cbtrecovery.com
DBT Life Skills For Emotional Health Great tools for maintaining sobriety. (from dbtselfhelp.com/index.html)
Rational Recovery: The New Cure for Substance Addiction. By Jack Trimpey. (Google book preview including the Addiction Voice Recognition Technique or the AVRT)

BostonJames,

Welcome. Smart move posting here. SR can help you change your life.

Read through the entire SR site. Read, read. Hard to do this on your own. I've learned much from the postings of others. Read & post. Best of luck to you.

Thank you so much to all for your replies. I read each one, and will follow up on the suggestions made to me. It was very interesting to me the different approaches and viewpoints as to achieving a sober life, and I found the diversity to be refreshing. Best to all.