Attitude Of Gratitude

 On 16^th July, 2008, it was late in the evening and I was sitting in my hotel room in Sydney, Australia. I was scheduled to stage a seminar on Emotional Intelligence the following day and a bit tired physically.

I was a little "down in the dumps" so to speak. I hadn't got to exercise lately because of my travelling schedule and recently I'd experienced some mild bouts of vertigo (that inner ear condition that can cause the room to start spinning.) You got it...speaking and "spinning" are not good partners!

My seminar was scheduled for 9:00 AM (as is always the case), but I had to meet the Team at 07:45 AM briefing them on the logistics of the seminar. Little did I know that I was about to see in the seminar would never forget.

In the meeting, there’ll be one participant who’ll be rolled onto the stage in his wheelchair, and began to interact with me in one of the exercises. But instead, began to play the piano that was there right on the stage. His fingers danced across the keys as he made beautiful music.

He then began to sing as he played, and it was even more beautiful. For some reason, however, I knew that I was seeing something special. There was this aura about him that I really can't explain and the smile...his smile was magic!

About ten minutes into his performance, someone came on the stage and said..."I'd like to share a 7-minute video. I usually do not allow this to happen, but something crossed my mind telling me that this is something ‘important’ and I heeded.  And the lights went dim.

Henry was born with no eyes, (I have had in some occasions, blind people attending my seminar, but this is something “different”) and a tightening of the joints which left him crippled for life. However, as a child, he was fitted with artificial eyes and placed in a wheelchair. Before his first birthday, he discovered the piano. His mom said, "I could hit any note on the piano, and within one or two tries, he'd get it." By his second birthday, he was playing requests. His father was ecstatic. "We might not play baseball, but we can play music together."

Today, Henry is a junior at a university. His father attends classes with him and he's made nearly all A's, with the exception of 3 B's. He's also a part of the 214 member marching band. You read it right...the marching band! He's a blind, wheelchair-bound trumpet player; and he and his father do it together. They attend all the band practices and the half-time performance in front of thousands. His father rolls and rotates his son around the field to the cheers of Henry's fans. In order to attend Henry's classes and every band practice, his father works the graveyard shift at UPS. Henry said..."My dad's my hero."

But even more than his unbelievable musical talent, it was Henry's "attitude of gratitude" that “touched” my soul. This is one of the themes in my seminar actually. On stage, between songs, he would talk to the rest of the participants about his life and about how blessed he was. He said, "God made me blind and unable to walk. BIG DEAL! He gave me the ability...the musical gifts I have...the great opportunity to meet new people."

When his performance was over, Henry and his father were on the stage together. The crowd rose to their feet and cheered for over five minutes. It gave me giant goose bumps!

My life was ready to meet Henry. I “needed” a hero, and I found one for the ages. If I were to live a hundred, I'll never forget that day, that smile, that music, but most importantly, that wonderful "attitude of gratitude."

I returned to Europe and shared Henry's story with nearly all of my seminars when we get to the part of the seminar on limiting beliefs. About two weeks later, I received an E-mail from one of the participants. He said, "Ross, I don't know who said it, but I think you'll love this quote."

"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass. It's about learning how to dance in the rain!"

I thought...that's it! We all face adversity in our life. However, it's not the adversity, but how we react, better still how to respond to it that will determine the joy and happiness in our life. During tough times, do we spend too much time feeling sorry for ourselves, or, can we, with gratitude...learn how to dance in the rain?

It almost sounds too simple to feel important, but one word...gratitude, can change your attitude, for attitude is altitude, thus, your life, forever. The principle of my seminar says it best...

"When we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that's present....we experience heaven on earth."

What I just shared is the power of gratitude. It is a blessing to have learned this thing on gratitude that can truly change the way you think about life.

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- ROSS GALÁN, NLP Spiritual Life Coach –
Spiritual Life Coaching School