Originally Posted by
GetMeOut 
She asked, again, how can I know this is it. I responded there is no possible way to know without a time machine, or dying. All I have is now.
I think you said it yourself, and it's true.
We can't rely too much on approval or attaboys from outside our skins, I think, because that puts power over us where it ought not be - outside our skins instead of inside. It also causes us to worry about things that are beyond our control. We stay sober because we want to stay sober, and all we can control is what we do. There's wisdom in the serenity prayer, versions of which date back at least to Hellenistic Greece.