Q: "How are you able to stay in the present moment when your brain goes to past hurts or future worries?"
Firstly, the Twelve Steps gave me back control over my mind.
I had gotten into lazy habits of thinking about the past,
the future, other people, the world, myself, my life, and the results.
These are not my business.
My business is serving God (Steps Three and Eleven: seeking
God’s will and only God’s will).
The answer is substituting one thing for another.
Total abandonment of self in favour of God. That’s what
solved all of my problems.
How?
Steps.
In the moment:
I’m responsible not for the thoughts that occur to me but
whether or not I pick them up, toy with them, nurture them, and grow them into
monstrosities.
My job is to be the guardian of the mind and bring my mind
back relentlessly to the safety of the moment, God, and the next right action.
That’s where I belong.