Someone once told me that he sometimes feels like a hypocrite. How can he do some things, or take on new mitzvos when there are others he is not currently doing?

I told him that one mitzvah is not dependent on the other. I told him to look at it like a game of Super Mario Bros. All the coins you collect add to your points, but if you miss one or two or even more, it's ok as long as you keep trying to get as many as you can. Points aren't subtracted because you missed a coin. You can only gain by collecting more.

And that's really how we need to look at our challenge. Every moment we hold back and every mitzvah we do, we're gaining points. If we fall, we "lose a life" and need to start over. Except that with life there's no game over until the Game is really over. We just need to try to beat our previous score.

Do we get depressed and give up playing when we lose a life?
Most people try to learn from that failed turn. They know that a monster showing up is inevitable - it's part of the game - so they try to remember in what circumstance it showed up and they learn from failing what they did wrong so they could try to beat it the next time.

When we start over playing a game like that, we're not thinking about our past failure except to say, "Hey, I got killed because of such and such - Next time let's try this!" We're not intimidated by the big monster at the end of the level. We're thinking how to successfully beat it and are determined to get to the next level.

Do we know what will be tomorrow or the next day? Will this attempt be like the others?
We never know what life will bring and thinking about any point in time beyond the here and now is pointless. Don't think about the monster except to strategize how you're going to beat him when/if he does rear his ugly head.

Keep positive. Savour every clean moment whether it's an hour, a day or a month. They're all accomplishments. Remind yourself how happy you are being clean. When you have temptations, tell yourself that it's really not a good "medicine."

Keep collecting those coins and be proud of them!

The way to go through life (or a super mario game...) is like a gps

You have to decide on you're destination at the beginning.
if you don't type a clear destination then you can't even start the journey. If you don't have a goal you're aiming for then you won't get anywhere. before we start recovery we have to sit down and decide to commit to get to the destination:recovery

Then you plan the most direct route.
there isn't a point in detours it will just delay your arrival. we have to choose the right methods to control ourselves and to avoid the fight to begin with, not just what seems easiest

Even a little bit in the wrong direction brings you to a different place.
turning just slightly off the path is going to bring you to a different place than you want to be.if we decide that today we'll let ourselves have 'just a little slip' then we're going off the path and it'll make it harder to reach the destination.

If you make a wrong turn just recalculate and go back on track without stopping to look behind.
stopping to feel bad for yourself isn't productive it will just make the journey take longer. after a wrong turn we don't stop the car for ten minutes we just go even faster to make up for the lost time. if we fall then we have to start on the right path right away, waiting is just going to make it worse if we fall we have to just KOT.

You don't look at the whole route just the next turn.
there isn't a point in knowing whats happening in two turns from now just focus on now and plan ahead for the next challenge. one day at a time (but we do have to plan ahead just a little bit)

and if you need a good gps check out the ones made by gye
DUH

i was thinking of another way life is like video games. there are certain games like warcraft or command and conquer where there is a mission goal. there are also generally other things aside from the goal that can be done. what generally happens if you try and explore everything is that you dont succeed at the goal.
something that has been useful for me in dealing with my CRAZY thinking and self judgement is picking a goal for myself, (i.e. get through the day at work) when my head starts going all over the place, no matter how much the individual thought makes sense to me at the time, if it's not directed to the goal it's not important.