Jordin Tootoo was a happy and contented man as he celebrated being 10 years sober earlier this month.

It's been a long hard road for the former NHLer from Rankin Inlet, and one he feels he'd no longer be on if he had continued with his former lifestyle.

Tootoo said his life has been quite the journey.

He said he's looking forward to everything the future has in store for himself and his family.

SA国际影视传媒�Living up North is hard with the substance abuse, domestic violence, dysfunction in the households and all that,SA国际影视传媒� said Tootoo.

SA国际影视传媒�I tell people SA国际影视传媒� and I said it in my book SA国际影视传媒� I don't resent anyone. I don't resent my parents for the experiences I had. I'm actually grateful because it's opened up my eyes in sobriety to understand the cycle.

SA国际影视传媒�I don't go around preaching to people because, to me, it's each to their own. I try to lead by example for our people and our Indigenous communities.

SA国际影视传媒�I chose this life and a lot of my buddies who I grew up with in Rankin now see. We learn by watching, especially in the Northern communities. What you see is what you do.SA国际影视传媒�

Tootoo said he's honoured to be an example of someone who chose a better way of life.

He said it was something that he chose SA国际影视传媒� to stop one cycle and start a new cycle for he and his family.

SA国际影视传媒�For me, the first two years of sobriety was probably the toughest experience of my life.

SA国际影视传媒�I had to find different avenues, different ways to keep myself busy.

SA国际影视传媒�Ultimately it was the land that kept me grounded. When you go out on the land nothing else matters. You're living in that moment.

SA国际影视传媒�It's out on the land where we heal as Inuit, as Indigenous people. It's where we come together and help each other out and, that's what really kept me going on a day-to-day basis during my first two years of sobriety.SA国际影视传媒�

Tootoo said when he first went sober, being in the south during the NHL season, he really didn't have those kinds of opportunities.

He said having the support of the Nashville Predators organization meant a lot to him, and he surrounded himself with positive people who wanted him to succeed.

SA国际影视传媒�You find out pretty darn quick who your real friends are when you change your life.

SA国际影视传媒�You start to eliminate people who want to take you down. And I've seen that first hand in our communities.

SA国际影视传媒�When someone starts to become successful or is doing good, jealousy sets in and some community members want to bring them down to their level.

SA国际影视传媒�I choose this path and when someone says, SA国际影视传媒極h Jordin look, you've got everything thanks to your God-given talent,SA国际影视传媒� I say, SA国际影视传媒楴o! I've worked hard for this. I earned every darn bit of what I have. It wasn't just given to me.SA国际影视传媒�

SA国际影视传媒�I started learning during sobriety that when you become comfortable and content in your own skin, you start to become successful within yourself.SA国际影视传媒�

Tootoo said he didn't want to get sober to impress others. He wanted to do it to stop one cycle and start another.

Grateful for wife and children

He said he wouldn't have what he has today if not for his wife, Jennifer, and their two daughters Sienna Rose, 4, and Avery Grace, 2.

SA国际影视传媒�This is what sobriety has given to me. I know for a fact that I didn't fix myself. There's no possible way I would have the life today that I have without support and it takes time for individuals to heal.

SA国际影视传媒�During the first three years of my sobriety, I felt like every day was a damn test, but that's how many people I affected throughout my life by using and I just said, SA国际影视传媒榃ow!SA国际影视传媒�

SA国际影视传媒�I had three years of every other day when there were people coming up to me and asking if I remembered this happening or that happening, and for me to be able to say, SA国际影视传媒業'm sorrySA国际影视传媒� took all that weight right off of my back.

SA国际影视传媒�But I knew, deep down inside, that if I didn't stop what I was doing I would be the next victim. I would be the next person six feet under. I knew my late brother, Terence, didn't want that, and I chose to believe him that, at the end of the day, everything will be OK if you have clarity and the right mindset. My mind had been foggy for the past 15 years SA国际影视传媒� from the age of 12 until 26, when I entered rehab.SA国际影视传媒�

Tootoo said it's a battle in the mind but as the days, months and years go past you start to become comfortable in your own skin and choosing a different way of life has become OK.

He said he couldn't imagine being in an isolated community up North and trying to change your perspective on life, because everyone around you is stuck in a stagnant life of living pay cheque to pay cheque and looking for someone else to make them happy.

SA国际影视传媒�Ultimately, you create your own happiness and, for me, the future is about being a present father for my kids, being there to watch them grow and learn.

SA国际影视传媒�And now, with sobriety, I'm able to do that. I'm able to get up at 6 a.m. to feed them and be a part of their every day life.

SA国际影视传媒�It's something that, oh man, it's something I am so grateful to have.SA国际影视传媒�