No it isn't a daily 'battle'. That sort of perception gets perpetuated and I'm not sure why. Maybe it stems from the 'dry' drunk concept....that if you're not happy, joyous and free, flying on a cloud of your 'spiritual awakening' that somehow something is off. Ok that's a generalization, but you get my point.
Life is up, life is down. People that don't get blasted have good days and bad days....long stretches of sunshine, sometimes long stretches of clouds. They just don't get wasted over it. And, the alcoholics, by getting wasted, ensure that there will be far more trouble than peace. I think when I first get sober (especially the first couple of times) I have screwed myself up so thoroughly that things that non alcoholics take for granted (feeling decent, everyone not hating me, being, um responsible) I'm god smacked "WOW". Then I find after I adjust to just being, well, kind of normal, life begins to get more dynamic emotionally. At that point (5-6 months usually for me) I have to remember to be mindful, stay in the moment. No, not one day at a time, but learning that the present is all I have and what I do with it is up to me. Battle? Only if I start to fight what I can't control, and forget what I can. Me.