My emotional sobriety is peace, gratitude, and serenity Not having a need to control people, and places A lot of healing, spiritual growth, and forgiveness. Too many details to mention. Emotional sobriety can be very broad depending on the needs of a person. I will cover a few areas. Resolving past issues with the change of behaviors. Identifying character defects such as self-centeredness, self-righteous, ego, resentments, and other issues. Maybe mental health issues: meds and/or therapy. Those are just a few. It may mean fewer lows and fewer highs. Practicing principals: 12 steps. People can go to AA but not be in the program. What is challenging? constant honesty, open-mindedness, and willingness. Living it! AA is not for the people who need it, it is for people that want it. SOBRIETY and more! It is a simple program for complicated people-lol!