It's a shock to the system isn't it? When we stop drinking, we are confronted with life in all its complexities and shades of gray, when there often aren't simple, immediate solutions with easy, neat formulas.
I know that as a result of my drinking, I had become extremely black and white, all or nothing in my mentality. It's a big adjustment process and doesn't fall into place immediately, you have to give yourself time to catch up on time of missed emotional growth, and sometimes learn a tolerance for the vagaries of everyday living and in relationships. (I know it can be difficult for someone with a damaged background to adjust to - to have that faith in the recovery process.)
If you can look after the day to day issues, the long term will work itself out and we find ourselves managing more effectively. Some of it in my own case is due to my counselor and the clarity I get from my sessions with her - a good counselor will know what you can and can't handle in a session, re your past life. But we don't always discuss that, much of it is monitoring my own levels of stress and managing them etc.
I think I now gauge and measure differently my own levels of 'happiness' and contentment. Life in sobriety isn't perfect, my tolerance for any problems in my life was once very short. But it still has plenty to offer and I think I nowadays relish all my feelings, in all their colors, after simply feeling numb and empty for so long.