Jillian’s November 1 Post: The Practice of Gratitude

It’s Thanksgiving time, so. I wanted to share a simple reminder for me of a fun way to find gratitude and to climb “our own mountains,” as Billy, a man I interviewed Change Your Life Through Travel, told me:

"Everyone gets into rock ’n’ roll for the girls. If they don’t confess that, they’re lying," Billy, a professional musician, said. “But, for me, it became as much about the travel. Travel has changed my life beyond my wildest imagination.

"I have been on every continent, save Australia," he continued. "I was in Moscow with Chuck Berry. I was the Pointer Sisters' Tour Manager and went to the Middle East with them."

In Egypt, Billy would learn a lesson that would shape him today.
"When I was in Cairo with the Pointer Sisters, their manager, who was gay, said, 'Meet me in the lobby at eleven tonight and wear a jacket.' I thought he was going to drag me to all these gay bars, that he’d want to go carousing," Billy said. "I didn’t want to go and was feeling disgruntled. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but that wasn’t my thing."

Billy reluctantly agreed to go, however, and showed up at the appointed time. Instead of taking him to gay bars, the manager had "arranged to go on a camel ride at midnight at the Pyramids!" Billy said. "This wasn’t something many people got to do. And, after a little while, we stopped and laid out a blanket. I could hear the berbers singing in high voices in the distance. And I sat watching the moonrise over the Sphinx. And it was one of those complete magic moments," Billy said. "And I thought, this is why I became a musician. This is what rock ’n’ roll has done for me."

"I realized you don’t get many opportunities to get paid to do this kind of thing," Billy said. "I had a moment of clarity, a feeling of great gratitude. And since that time, it's been like a muse over my shoulder that says, 'Remember this. Savor this: This lucky moment, this magic moment. You can't take it with you.'

"I've almost made my own small practice of gratitude since," Billy said. "No matter where life has taken me, I often remember that moment with the moon rising over the Pyramids, and the Sphinx, and feeling, My gosh, what great fortune I've had. And that's what gets you through the tough times: those moments when you become a better – if not better, then more enlightened – person. Everybody has their own purgatory they need to deal with. We all have our own mountains we need to climb. This has helped me climb mine."