I'm definitely not a saint, so there were no miracles here... It's not a cliche, I just started with Day 1. It sucked. I live in a city and have a liquor store 2 blocks away and I can't tell you how many times I wanted to go there. I paced the hall, I read here about urge surfing, I listened to classical music, I cried...and then I went to bed sober and started the next day.
You're right, though, that it does become a lot easier - otherwise, only the most masochistic would be here. But that doesn't mean we've forgotten the early days, and that's a good thing. If sobriety meant flipping a switch it would be a lot easier to relapse. Just pop a cold one and wait for the next epiphany. Those early scars help to remind us that we never want to go back to that.
Please just keep this in mind during your darkest times: the road gets easier the farther you travel.