Feeling Grateful For Changes!

Ben Affleck Opens Up About "Being Lucky" For All His Second Chances Amid Sobriety

Ben Affleck is feeling grateful for all of the difficulties he's faced these past few years and is remaining optimistic about his sobriety. The actor sat down with WSJ. Magazine and opened up about his path to healing.

Ben Affleck is looking back at his life without the rose-coloured glasses and revealed in an exclusive interview with WSJ. Magazine that he's grateful for all of the troubles and tribulations he's had to deal with before getting sober.

While the world is congratulating him for not only his sobriety journey, Affleck is sharing that it wasn't always an easy path, but that's what makes it worthwhile.

Ben Affleck is getting a second chance

Ben Affleck isn't holding back in his honesty about his sobriety journey, as well as what was the tipping point that led him to make those serious changes. The 49-year-old actor is taking an honest look at himself and is revealing it all in his latest exclusive interview.

Ben Affleck arrives at the 78th Venice International Film Festival.

"There's a lot that I would want my younger self to understand," he shared with the outlet. "Things I wish I had done differently, and they're rooted in that instinct to look at my past and think, I wish I could have avoided this painful event. I wish I could have not caused someone else pain. I wish I had understood better the nature of what was difficult about life for me."

Affleck went on to share that he wishes he didn't "have to learn the hard way", but his path to being sober was filled with "suffering", something he understands to be essential to true enlightenment.

"The only real cure for alcoholism is suffering. You just hope that your threshold for suffering is met somewhere before it destroys your life," he said, noting that when people would say they were grateful for their suffering, he couldn't understand that narrative.

He said, "You're not grateful for disasters, creating pain and wreckage in your life. Say you feel s***y about it and you wish you were better! Only within the last five years, I really felt increasingly grateful for the difficulties that I've had."

In regards to relationships, Affleck has rekindled an old flame, Jennifer Lopez, and fans are more than happy to see Bennifer back together!

"The one thing you really need to avail yourself of the opportunities provided from that growth is the second chance," he said. "I've definitely tried to take advantage of that. I haven't always been successful, but in cases in which I have, they've turned out to be the defining aspects of my life."

Affleck also noted that he's happy he's so healthy and shares that addiction and mental health could have gone much worse.

WSJ. Magazine will feature the Oscar-winning actor in their December issue, hitting stands Dec. 11.