Originally Posted by FreeOwl

You can do it.

One thing that helped me was to shift my focus from the life I didn't want to the life I DID want.

We tend to continue attracting what we strongly resist. It's odd, but it's a pattern I've seen in my own life and that of many others.

When I began to envision the man I WANTED to be, the positives of sobriety, the things and the people and the experiences I wanted to infuse my life, the character I wanted to embody, the storyline I wanted my life to be about.... a shift happened.

When I let go of "I HAVE to", "I CANT keep....", "I've GOT to STOP'.... and instead embraced:

"I AM a sober man...."
"I AM a man of integrity and character and trust and goodness"
"My life is valueable and cherished and worthy"
"I am there for others and care for myself"
"I live a meaningful, abundant life"
"My life has purpose and joy and richness"
"I am present, aware, conscious"

All of these things began to guide me and shape me and - importantly - were simply incompatible with drugs and alcohol.

These sort of statements and visions led my focus in each day to be on the progress I could make and the actions I could take which were consistent with those visions.

Some days it was hard. Some days it felt fake. But even on those days it was so much better than continuing to dreadfully think about how badly I wanted to NOT have this life, how badly I HAD to STOP.... How awful I felt.

You can do this, and life is wonderful in sobriety.