It was really hard for me in the beginning (and still is at times) to think that I will live my whole life without taking drugs or drinking. I couldn't imagine a life like that because more than half of my life I have spent wasted in some form or another. I learned that you literally have to take life one day at a time, sometimes 15 minutes at a time and you get through it. If I feel that way now, I just try to say that for the next fifteen minutes, I am not going to use and I am not going to think about anything longer than that. It really does work.