The program has given me the best days I've ever had. But thinking about all that lost time can still bring me down.
--Jane S.

Telling the difference between yesterday, today, and tomorrow may be easy for most people, but it isn't for many of us. Our past tends to overshadow both the present and the future. Until we learn to draw a line between then and now, the gloom of "what was" expands and spreads like noxious smoke or a sickening odor. "What can be" is blotted out.

Where does yesterday end and today begin? For us, that may be the central recovery issue. Our battle is one of boundaries.

No matter how spoiled the past may have been, our future is spotless. If, in our minds, we say good-bye to the past, we can begin writing a new story and painting a new picture.

Every day is new - fresh and shimmering with possibilities. The future is a long string of such days. As our perception of time corrects itself, as we learn to accept the past and look forward to the future, we can focus on today and live it well.

Today, I will see the bad days of the past as rotten apples. I will throw them out of my barrel to protect my new days.