A white whale is a nemesis, the eternal enemy.
Where is it?
Within.
How does it manifest?
A persistent, destructive belief, thinking, and behaviour pattern.
Why does it persist?
Because there's a whacking payoff.
There's something I don't want to face.
How do you get rid of one?
If you wait long enough, it'll eventually die a natural death or be killed by circumstances. Trouble is, it will cause untold harm until then, and one might not even survive that far. White whales can trigger full-blown relapse.
So I wouldn't recommend that.
What you could do is get a really good sponsor, who will call you out on your 'stuff'.
Trouble is, they will!
They may do it gently or roughly, but they'll do it, and when the penny drops, the earth cracks open, and everything begins to shake.
You now have a couple of options:
Buckle down, face the 'stuff', and change.
Or discount the challenger, minimise the situation that occasioned the challenge, and run, run like the wind.
This will set you back at square one.
When things really bother me, I do well to look for the white whale it is revealing.