Toomutch

I know as an alcoholic I should stay in the present and not look forward or back. For me this isn't always easy. I will find myself wandering backward which usually causes depression or looking forward which results in anxiety. To stay in only today would be simply peaceful. Not that each day would go perfectly, but it would keep me grounded. I found a nice quote this morning.

I will celebrate the thrill of the present, squeeze the moments of today, and trust the outcome to God.

Any thoughts on this? I's it easy for you to stay in the day?

Mark75

For me, staying in the day takes practice. When I find myself going back in time or projecting into the future, I have to consciously bring myself back to the present. It's a skill I have to keep current... Like anything... use it or lose it...

Having faith that I am right were I am supposed to be and that I will, in fact, get all that I need is requisite... 2nd and 3rd step primarily, for you AA's.

Mark

least

I have a hard time just staying in today cause I'm always worried about finances. Other than that, I do alright.

NEOMARXIST

Yes. Keeping it all in the day really helped and continues to help me in my sobriety and recovery.

In relation to not drinking/drugging then I use 'just for today'. Though this isn't an issue anymore as I don't have any feelings/desire over alcohol/drugs anymore. But it's good to know that if that changes in the future then i can get back to basics. ie - just for today don't drink.

'One day at a time' I use as my ethos for living life and working my recovery from alcoholism. This philosophy has helped and continues to help me so much. I find that worring about things into the future is futile and the same goes over living in the past. If I notice my thinking veering off into the future then I work my recovery to get my clarity of thought back into the day. I usually notice that when I start feeling anxiety and low mood hitting then it's because my thinking is out of the present day and running wild. This is a skill as much as anything in recovery and a skill which I am ever grateful for.

I find that if I look after today then the future works out nice as long as I plant the seeds.

I was only thinking about this today as it happens. I could have worried about today fearing that it may have not gone as well as I would have hoped. But I didn't and kept living 'one day at a time' and guess what? Today went really well and I feel like my recovery is moving forward nicely.

peace

FBL

"Keeping it in the present" has been my biggest tool in staying sober. I was one of those people who drank to escape. It was only when I no longer desired that escape that the obsession to drink was lifted.

WakeUp

I, like Neo, learned how to truly live in the present when I learned to live "one day at a time."

parsley

I'm with least in worrying about finances, but I find staying in the moment is the key to my success. Staying within each hour allows me to enjoy life, to enjoy time with my kids. As I'm learning to become more spiritual, meditation helps tremendously to bring my mind back and center my thoughts.

BrightLine

I think the present is really the best place to be, I am often envious of little kids who can just really enjoy themselves and live in the moment, and wonder when I lost that.

Like you, thinking about the past just causes remorse and thinking about the future brings anxiety. But they are just daydreams really, and worse, unproductive day dreams. Whatever happens in the futer, or whatever happened, it's useless making yourself ill now. I am doing 15 minutes meditation and relaxation a few times a day, trying get out of my sick habits of mind. It is helping a little, and hopefully my anxiety will go away in time.

Toronto68

Toomutch, I have been thinking about this lately. I've been going through a bit of a nostalgia period, but not the kind that involves wishing I could drink; more of a vain kind and wishing I had lived out my years better when they were around. But I don't have debates with myself as to whether it is all related, since a drinking problem is a thinking problem. I am more content in myself than I have been in some time, but I have to recognize that there is a self-oriented feeling going on right now. It would be too strong to say it is a "woe is me." To give myself some credit, I also see in this thought process a realization of how lucky I am, to have what I do and be what I am now. That ability to see what's good NOW is so important. Sometimes I also think that I hark back on the earlier years because of the newness I have now; in other words, these early months of sobriety perhaps remind me of that earlier period before the awful part of the journey; the Line and all that. I'm glad I am able to see the range in the journey, and to hang on to today.