Gratitude

This past July I was fortunate to have been able to spend 10 days in Verbier Switzerland as part of the Verbier Music Festival. Of course the music and Swiss pastries which I had way too many of were highlights. Verbier is a small town in the Swiss alps in the French speaking region of Switzerland. Being able to ride the tram nearly up to the top of the Swiss alps was an experience I will never forget. I rode up two levels to about 10 grand above sea level. I got off the tram and could not believe the beauty of what I was seeing. I could see down for miles. I could see towns, chateaus, and cow farms. Also, the clouds were a lot more visible and blended in with the mountain top. So, after my breath which had been taken away returned, I walked around a bit commenting to myself and continually saying holy shit out loud because it was so beautiful. As I walked around I saw sculptures of a duck and an elephant on the path. The sun mixed with the clouds and the temperature in the 60s was right on. At the top of the mountain, I could see snow cover which looked like a picture on a christmas cards, but it was real, not an illusion. The cow farms were an added bonus to the scenic views, I saw hundreds of cows and several sheperds with their dogs at work. The Shepherd's farewell by Berlioz began to play in my head as I watched the activity going on. I sat and closed my eyes on the bench where I was sitting, and attempted to meditate. Tears came into my eyes because I felt this incredible sense of joy to be experiencing that moment. The Swiss alps in Verbier should be one of the seven wonders of the world. I am so grateful that I got to experience such a wonderful, once in a lifetime trip to Switzerland. It really is important to be grateful for things in life. I am grateful for things such as that trip, my health, my family, my friends, any gigs at all in music, music itself, and most of all that I have this moment to write this blog. Now, I am writing and preaching gratitude. I am not a hypocrite. Quite often I am quite the opposite of grateful. I tend to focus on what I am lacking. That is all good if it is done in the right way. In other words I can focus on what I can do to improve the aspects of my life that I think are lacking. Sulking about it is as useless as I don't know what. You all can think of an analogy on that one. A friend of mine told me to smile. I hate being told to smile. However, it is a valid point. Smiling is a good exercise for the hundreds of muscles in your face. In addition, we all could be dead, so why be miserable like Eeyore? We are all alive and only get one shot at it. Why not be grateful, right? My friend Jim had his Verbier Festival shirt on earlier, and it made the sensational trip we took come to my brain. Thinking about gratitude is a fantastic reframing tool if a person is in a bad state. I hope this was helpful or inspiring to someone.