From a song by a greatly loved and talented singer/songwriter come these lines:

And the sun poured in like butterscotch
And stuck to all my senses.
Oh, won't you stay?
We'll put on the day
And we'll talk in present tenses.

Life in Steps 10, 11 and 12 is lived in the present tense -- not the miseries or triumphs of the past, or the myriad possibilities of the future. Whenever our thoughts revert to what has happened or what may happen, we've slipped away from the last three Steps.

So what is the point in practicing them, if they can't offer immunity from drifting away to what has been or what may be? Well, the reason is this: The more we practice Steps 10, 11 and 12, the more quickly we see when we do drift away, and the easier it is to bring ourselves back to the present.

We sometimes think that it's possible to be aware of the past or the future, but of course it isn't. All we can be aware of is this moment, the way we feel this moment, the thoughts we are having this moment, the task we are doing this moment. All that there is of reality is in the right now and the right here; and all there is of peace is here too, in the present tense.