One of the greatest challenges we face in recovery is staying in the moment. For whatever reason alcoholics and addicts are almost obsessed by our need to get what we want or not lose what we have. I have never in 15 years of recovery met an alcoholic who found living in the moment easy. I have however met many who have learned through working the program of Alcoholics Anonymous that they can live in the moment. The program talks about “one day at a time” and for many alcoholics new to the program its one moment at a time to simply stay sober. It does however get easier, much easier and then we are faced with living sober, with a skill set which kept us drunk. This is where the program and the 12 steps changes our lives. Working the 12 steps gently changes our thinking from the inside out and in 15 years I have never seen anybody in the program get to true emotional sobriety without working the 12 steps. Once we work the program the step that keeps me in the here and now is the 11th step. The conscious contact with God on a daily basis keeps me out of my old ways of thinking. I find it vital to remind myself throughout the day that God is running the show as soon as I forget that I get into serious trouble. I still struggle with running off into the future and dragging up the past but these days I can get out of that really quickly by going back to the principal of the 11th step prayer, by turning it over to God and reminding myself who is in charge. I can do beeter simply by just doing what my stubborn alcoholic ass often stops me from doing which is working the 12 step program.
I often hear it said in AA that “I came for my drinking but stay for my thinking” how true that is. If I tried to do life with my old thinking I would be drunk or dead. We prepare for our day by brushing our taking a shower, brushing our teeth, putting on our make up, eating a healthy breakfast but our mind runs the show if we do not prepare that as laid out in step 11 we are in serious trouble.
