I was scared for 40 years Rick....then I faced my fears...very little scares me now.
I have to add - the fear of getting sober was WAY worse than the reality.
As for happiness - that took a little longer than 3 months and it took a lot more than just not drinking.
I expected just not drinking would leave me happy too. Nuh uh.
I'd never been happy as an adult...there was some serious shizz to wade through before I came out the other side to happy...
but again, I could have only done that sober.
I'm not a swami or a mystic and I'm not selling smoke.
If you're like me you drank for years...if you can commit to just one year of recovery and growth I think you'll be well on your way to seeing what true happiness is like.
D