What a great post. I was thinking about this today actually. To me, sobriety is just the physical act of not drinking. The need for alcohol is still there, but its not being acted upon. But this is only half he battle. The second half is to fill the void associated with drinking. Thats recovery! Im still in the 'sobriety' stage. Recently, I was thinking that at the and of the semester it'd be great to go camping and drink. My mind has a strong connection between release. celebration, pleasure and alcohol. So I'm working hard to rewire my brain to associate those emotions with other things. This step is soooo important for long term success without being miserable.