Atheist: What gets you through those times in life when?

I bet you're a real downer at a party: "Whats the point of having fun? Eventually it'll be over, and it'll be monday, and we'll all be back at school/work. We might as well not even bother." The point of life is to live life while you still have it.

Nothing good lasts forever. The flip side of that is nothing bad lasts forever either.

Personal fortitude.

Inner strength, my family, my friends - lots of things. I can't imagine having a life so meaningless and empty that the only thing I can look forward to is having it end and getting a reward.

so you expect to struggle through life, how can you even understand that, i dont

Over a short period of time I lost my mother, my father, and my sister. My wife and I separated and she left taking my daughter with her. Four of my friends died, two by their own hands. A person with a gun wanted to kill me and I had the crap beaten out of me twice, putting me in the hospital once. Seeing what the next day would bring is what got me through it. I don't need a reward for living, life is my reward and I only get to enjoy it once.

Addendum: And while it may not seem like it from my short description of events I provided, I do enjoy it.

Well I know one day I will be dead and will no longer have any consciousness and thus will not care about said upsetting/ stressful things............

I think everything happens for a reason, so when I am suffering from something I think to myself "it was bound to happen anyways."

When things are going bad, I turn to myself. It makes me stronger. Back when I was religious, it was frustrating how I'd look for comfort and guidance from God and find nothing. When I'm failing, I'd rather reach for a frayed rope that might break in my hand than a steel ladder that really isn't there.

Also, I find life to be extremely rewarding, and full of beauty and wonder. I don't need an afterlife to make life worth living.

I think about what it would do to my parents.

I get depressed, but then I think about all the things I want to achieve. Life's not THAT much of a struggle in the grand scheme of things.

Reality.

I don't need a crutch to lean on.