“I saw that I had been living too much alone, too much aloof from my fellows, and too deaf to that voice within. Instead of seeing myself as a simple agent bearing the message of experience, I had thought of myself as a founder of A.A.
How much better it would have been had I felt gratitude rather than self-satisfaction—gratitude that I had once suffered the pains of alcoholism, gratitude that a miracle of recovery had been worked upon me from above, gratitude for the privilege of serving my fellow alcoholics, and gratitude for those fraternal ties which bound me ever closer to them in a comradeship such as few societies of men have ever known. Truly did a clergyman say to me, “Your misfortune has become your good fortune. You A.A.’ s are a privileged people.”
GRAPEVINE, JULY 1946”
explain AS BILL SEES IT IN THE BIG BOOK PRIVILEGED PEOPLE
I think Bill W is reflecting on how much he has taken for granted and how his lack of gratitude has distorted his perspective.
When he sees more clearly with a new perspective and ‘new pair of glasses’ ; he realizes what a gift it is to see his life of service as a privilege not a burden or obligation. And that clarity opens him up to an experience of great thankfulness and gratitude.
It reminds me of an article about gratitude from a book entitled the ‘Spirituality of Imperfection’ … link below
Here is a quote that captures this idea /
”Gratitude is the vision that “sees” gift and recognizes how gift-ed we are. This vision has always been recognized as a core experience of “spirituality.” Those who seek spirituality, that is to say, see reality differently. It is not that they see things that others cannot see, but rather that they see what everyone else sees, but in seeing recognize in all reality its aspect of gift.
The joy of living comes in the experience of gratitude that flows from a vision of one’s life as a reality received, a gift given freely and spontaneously. Such a vision removes self from the center, thus healing self-centeredness by revealing the folly of the illusion of control.
As the example of Alcoholics Anonymous attests, it is in the giving up of claims and demands to control that serenity and peace of mind begin. The “First Step” of the A.A. program reads: “We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol, that our lives had become unmanageable.” Only then is the first part of A.A.’ s Second Step possible: “[ We] came to believe….”
https://gugogs.org/2024/08/22/gratitude-the-spirituality-of-imperfection-by-ernest-kurtz-excerpted-from-chapter-12/