As a newbie to recovery (4.5 mos CoDA) I sometimes wonder what it's like further down the road.
First, congratulations on getting into recovery, on starting down that path. For many it is either too frightening (honestly, it can be terrifying at times, no bones about it) or too hard (it *is* a lot of work, all the time, all day long, every day).
As for how it is down the road? Well, awareness of self becomes greater. You learn that being selfish isn't bad and you start to be selfish - not in a bad way, but in that you learn to put your needs ahead of others. Consequently, your needs get met much more often (or at the very least not trampled on) and the world becomes a more peaceful place. Things that used to make you want to belch fire you find you can shrug off with no lingering charred aftertaste. People who used to be able to make you feel guilty will no longer have any control over you (warning: this will really honk some people off - as it consistantly does the parent who tried to guilt trip me last night - be prepared to not accept their problem as yours).
You find that your shoulders drop a few inches, you stand a little straighter, and you don't care as much about what other people think of you. You find that YOU are in charge of your life, and that empowerment is liberating.
And then, just when you think you're "recovered", someone comes along at just the right time and just the right place when you're in just the right mood and they find some button you'd forgotten about and they smash it as hard as they can.
Then you realize that you will never be "recovered", but that you have the ability still to control your own destiny if you take care of yourself.
Recovery isn't rainbows and unicorns, but it is a lovely day to be you, with mostly sunny skies and occasional rainshowers.