It's amazing how much a sim can help. When I was learning how to fly I didn't even know there was such a thing as an instuctor or where to find one so I had to teach myself. As expected, I wasn't getting anywhere. I decided to buy a sim and after working with it for awhile I went out and tried the real one again. This time I got it up and back down in one piece.

They aren't exactly like flying the real thing but they are close enough.