There have been many articles and books released in the past year about Gratitude and the idea that you should Do What You Love, and Love What You Do. I cannot think of another career where that is more important than in singing. Gratitude is the driving force behind success. Success isn’t measured in money. It’s measured by the joy you have in life.
Every day I wake up and try to meditate. “I see myself in perfect health. I see myself in absolute prosperity. I see myself invigorated with life, appreciating, again, this physical experience which I want so very much.”
I recently read a book about Michael Jackson, and how he made THRILLER and literally had it ALL, but could never be grateful and appreciate what he had. He was never appreciating “The present moment,” as he was always worried about how he was going to get that next great hit. I understand this.
When I won the MET competition in 2000, my life took off at warp speed. I really wasn’t ready for it, and wasn’t mature enough to appreciate it. I thought it would never end, and was never truly GRATEFUL for what it was that I had accomplished. Without experiencing the low points in life, you cannot fully appreciate the peaks. Now I understand Gratitude. My agent at the time of the MET competition, had Alzheimer’s disease, and by the time I figured it out, it was too late…9/11 happened, and I spent years blaming those two events for slowing down my career. Now I realize, it was actually ME who stood in my way. I am so grateful for this lesson.
After more than a year of living in China, where you literally see people starving on the streets, or people who live on less a month than we spend on a latte at Starbucks, I have truly learned a lesson in Gratitude. The world ebbs and flows, expands and contracts, and is by its very nature is somewhat unreliable. If we only feel gratitude when it serves our desires, it’s not true thankfulness. No one is exempt from the twists and turns of fate, which may, at any time, take the possessions, situations, and people we love away from us. Ironically it’s often those very moments that serve as wake up calls and remind us of how lucky we are to be alive.
In the words of Buddha:
“Change is constant”
“All is illusion”
