“I was soon to be catapulted into what I like to call the fourth dimension of existence. I was to know happiness, peace, and usefulness, in a way of life that is incredibly more wonderful as time passes.”
As we’ve been trucking along in AA, we kept hearing people talk about this fourth dimension. And like most alcoholics, we wanted a direct route. A shortcut. A way to get there faster and stay there longer.
Obviously the Twelve Steps got us into the ring. They saved our lives. But we wanted to actually live there — to stay in that place Bill was talking about. Happiness. Peace. Usefulness. Not just as an idea, but as something real and daily.
That’s when some of us stumbled onto a simple gratitude inventory Bill talked about in his story.
It’s not complicated. Maybe a spiral notebook. Maybe the Notes app. A dissertation if you want to. Just three questions:
Where have I been happy today?
Where have I been at peace today?
Where have I been useful to other people today?
That’s it.
What surprised us was how grounding it is. Instead of obsessing over what went wrong — or what might go wrong tomorrow — we start noticing what’s already happening. Little moments. Small wins. Ordinary usefulness. Stuff we would’ve blown past before.
It keeps our feet planted in the day we’re actually living. And somehow, over time, that fourth dimension doesn’t feel so far away. Not because we forced our way into it — but because we paid attention long enough for it to surround us.
It works. It really does.
What helps you notice happiness, peace, or usefulness in your day — especially when nothing dramatic or exciting seems to be happening?
