Absolutely! One of the first things that I noticed when I started to seriously investigate my reality was how difficult it is to stay with the present moment - and how peaceful it feels to just to exist right now. And of course, as you said - this instant is all that really exists.
And yes, I wholeheartedly agree with you on how past experiences constrain us. When I was a kid, it was as if the negativity of the world just bounced right off of me. I happily continued on with whatever I was doing, just to show people that they were wrong. The world relentlessly tries to beat the creativity out of you until it finally starts to chip it away. You ever notice the bizarre satisfaction that people get when they tell you that you'll fail at something - and then you do? "I told you so!"
I suppose it's the whole misery loves company thing.
I think my current goal is to try to deprogram my mind in an attempt to process information like I did as a child. Insight Meditation seems to be leading me in that direction. More than anything I would just love to get back that feeling of wonder, creativity and excitement about life that I had in my youth.
The exhausting back and forth between reliving the past and panicking over the future seems to be at the root of all suffering and misery in this life.