November 29, 2017

Gratitude Post-November, 2017

November silently stood J reminding me there is only one month left for the year to end. How quickly 11 months have passed and I seemed to have recovered quite fast too with regular exercise, good nutrition and positive attitude I am glad to have lost weight and move towards a gaining a healthier body.

The Catholics all over the world remember their ancestors and offer prayers for those who have died and its time to remember those who have gone ahead with gratitude.  The memory of my mother who died on 1st November and buried on the 2nd… was the first to come to my mind, and then the other members – my grandparents, my elder sister and my son who have been close to me.    I continue to miss my mother and my son Emmanuel but at the same time I am also grateful for all that they were in my life.  2nd November Being All Souls day we visited our loved ones graveyard, decorated them with flowers, candles and paid homage to them.
Ready to travel to coimbatore for South East Region Pre Convention
I am grateful for the YWCA of Secunderabad for the opportunity I and my daughter got in attending a Pre convention of the South East Region held at Jenny Residency in Coimbatore. It was a great experience-  as a team and interacting with other members brought in learnings and insights. I was also glad to share the panel discussion as to how women from the south east region can address and respond to violence. It was an opportunity to meet the other organizations of the region, interact and appreciate the good work.
The ambience was beautiful, with lovely weather, delicious food and friendly people welcoming and ensuring that we carry with us some very memorable gifts of tea leaves and bright colored printed table cloth which would be used for Christmas. It was two days session addressing issues of violence and relooking at the constitution of the YWCA. There was enough time for us to just go out for two hours and pick up something, and I took a Coimbatore black cotton saree which I had always wanted to and a few small little things for my daughter.


I came back to Hyderabad and heard about a good colleague and friend of mine who passed away leaving 3 young children, all of them in the age group of 17 to 25 years.  It was very sad and I have no words to comfort the family, except that I visited them   along with my daughter (as one of her daughter is my daughter’s classmate) and participated in prayers.  I felt terrible to see the family shattered, a year ago her husband passed away... Every death keep us reminding that we are here for a short while and our lives are temporary in nature, and one day we too must be ready to part with our families. These thoughts motivate me to live every moment and create memories that can last a life time J

There were regular counseling sessions at the campus – and I was glad to be available for the students, and also some referrals came as a request from affiliated colleges. I am thankful for being part of a few sessions in the city, a session on safe spaces for the girls in one of the schools, little bit of motivation for a boys college, wherein YWCA of Secunderabad was initiating another phase of work this year on substance abuse and its impact, one request programme for understanding psychological counseling and its importance to young girls was given to me in a college – I enjoyed speaking to the youth and felt energetic at the end of all these sessions.




This month I could steal some time and watch a movie – with a friend, which just happened one afternoon, without any planning, I feel grateful for these small joys, the movie was fun. It was “Karib Karib Single” a Hindi movie by Tanuja Chandra, that speaks of two different individuals who meet on a dating app and what follows is clash in personality and comedy, drama and both Irfan and Parvathy were excellent living their roles, very different kind of a movie from the usual ones and nothing like watching with a good friend.

This month I thankful for the tree love posts, initiated by Parul, I have begun enjoying clicking the trees and spreading green virtually. Here’s my link:

I am also thankful to Susan scot and shilpagaarg very inspiring bloggers who make a difference in the blogging by promoting light in darkness and spreading love and peace in the virtual world.


This month I also relooked at my resume and it was such a meaningful experience J I couldn’t believe myself that I had been working for more than two and half decades in the service sector, and I could see the way I have been evolving over a period of time, adding to my qualifications and experiences… I have been enjoying my learnings and integrating them in my work place and wherever I volunteer.

This month due to change in weather conditions, my mother in law was sick; and it was a time for the family to come together and spend more time, offering her support, the doctors were helpful, ready and available and everything that was required to be done for available.

David has been going out of his way to ensure that his mom recovers, hence had taken leave from work to get all the required tests and MRI done; as his mother fears hospitalization. Our family doctor has been kind enough to treat her in a nursing home where he attends to patients. I am thankful for David’s friends who are readily available to help him and stand by whatever needs to be done specially in terms being helpful to his mother. I am also grateful for Neomi who was kind enough to share the wheel chair, so that my mother in law can move around a bit and connect with those around.

Our parish community celebrated the feast of St Cecilia and it was our pleasure to organize the first day novena mass in our local church, David took the lead to bring all the members of his group together and delegated responsibilities ensuring that we have a meaningful celebration, last Sunday was the special mass, with small children receiving the first holy communion; we attended two of the functions in our area and it was good to meet relatives and friends for these gathering and connect with them. I am grateful for all these celebrations that make us come alive and give us opportunities to meet, interact and have some fun.

I am glad to meet one of my mom’s old friend who came to our church for her granddaughter’s first holy communion, she visited our family with her husband and spent little time with us, just chatting endlessly reminding me of my mother, and all that they were to each other, I felt happy listening to her – wherein she recalled all the conversations she had with my mother; it was like my mom coming home.  She spoke with much love and affection about my mother, she laughed, cried and appreciated my mother for her warmth and hospitality.

I am grateful for one of David’s friend who helped me renew my driving license, for my two wheeler. I have forgotten to renew and thank God I realized it as I was going through my files putting things in order, suddenly I noticed and found that I am already delayed in renewal. I appreciate him for taking the trouble to fill up the online form and also showing me the process, ensuring that I complete, within a couple of weeks I would get back my renewed license.

Dorothy is busy with her schedule in college and I am thankful to God for her commitment to study on her own; and also open for learning, glad she accompanied me for the YWCA Pre convention and also met and interacted the youth members of the other regions.

I am grateful for this month, for so many things happening; along with constant dose of inspirations, loving family and friends, and motivating to be better, humane and trying my best to live every moment, laugh everyday and love beyond words- cherishing every gift that comes freely – breath of life ,trustworthy relationships, inspiring bloggers and generous service providers, nutritious meals, and a peaceful sleep J



“At the end of the month I AM THANKFUL for my BLESSINGS ARE BIGGER than my problems”


How was your November?? Sending you vibrations of love, peace and harmony :)
Be Blessed & Be Happy!!




12 comments:

  1. What a busy November Genevive! So many wonderful memories of your own journey and the kindness of friends! The photos are lovely. Happy 1st day of December. I hope David's mother is getting better. Have a wonderful weekend. And thank you for the mention :)

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    1. Yes Susan, November was full, couldn't believe 30 days are over and we are already in december. Thanks for the compliments, and wishing you a great month ahead.. David' mother is better, we cannot say anything now, doing our best to help her, glad to stay connected and appreciate you for your consistency in encouraging and affirming me:) Have a great weekend!!

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  2. that was quite an eventful month. The thing you mentioned about death is scarily true. Lets make the most of life, tell people we love them and stop holding grudges for we never know when its time to go.
    Its great to hear about your journey and experiences in the service sector , heres. to wishing you many more years of working and making a difference. Its been nice visiting your blog and hope to see you again

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    1. Welcome Akshata to my space:) appreciate you for taking time to read my post; and yes I do agree with you, we never know when it will be the last day of our lives and hence its so very important to appreciate and express love, and do all those things that we are capable of and generously live a life of gratitude!! thanks again for your thoughts, hope you had a great November too..

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  3. I love how you count your blessings and do so much to make lives better for others. You are such an inspiration, Angela.
    I wasn't aware of the All Souls Day until last month when on my way to work, I saw a carnival and the celebrations near a catholic cemetery.I went back home and googled. Thank you for sharing more about the day.
    Thank you for the mention on the Thursday Tree Love. I love that you join every time. Hugs!
    Wishing you a good December and what's remaining of 2017.

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    1. Hi Parul, I am blessed to have you here:) thanks for the encouraging and affirming words, November is the month for remembering the souls that has left the earth; the month begins with all saints day( where saints of the church are honored) followed by the souls on the 2nd day of the month. Traditional catholics are very particular about these days of November and its a day of obligation for them, wherein they attend the church services and give the grave yard a shine and visit with their family members. You are welcome parul as I love trees and am enjoying being part of tree love; appreciating you for your constant dose of inspiration and initiatives, and wishing you a great days of december.

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  4. You are a true example of the one who look out for the good. I had no idea about all souls day, thanks for sharing. Though I do not fear death but yes loosing the loved ones is painful. I am happy reading your gratitude post Angela. You are doing a great Job with YWCA. I am working on the App "Gratitude Pie" - gratitude journal App. Would you like to review the same once its Live?

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    1. Thank you Upasna for your compliments; you brought a smile on my face and your comment was motivating:) Gratitude Journal App, sounds interesting and am glad to hear that your are working on the Gratitude Pie App:) I don't mind looking at it, I have no idea what it entails, would appreciate if you could enlighten me about this app a little more.. Thanks for connecting with me.

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  5. You had loads on your plate this November! I am so sorry about your colleague. may she rest in peace and may God give strength to the children. True, all this tells us that we are here for such a short time. We must truly make the most of our time and leave behind lovely memories.
    Wishing your mother-in-law a speedy recovery.
    And hearty congratulations to you for doing such a fab job of touching and motivating young lives. You are truly inspiring, Genevive. Stay blessed always and wishing you a great December!

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    1. Hi Shilpa::) as you rightly said I did not even realise that November is gone and December has come in already so soon...appreciate your wishes for my mother in law, we are trying our best to help her deal with pain and fulfill all her wishes as we don't know what will be the next situation in our lives. Thanks shilpa for your affirmations, it means a lot to me as I look up to you and you are my model for authentic and meaningful posts :) when it comes to blogging, appreciating you for your kind words and wishing the last month to be a fantastic month for you & your family.

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  6. How nice that you got to travel with your daughter, Genevieve! I am so sorry to hear aout your friend. In the end, we only have memories to treasure. Hugs!

    This year seems to have buzzed by far too quickly, but of course we know that it is all in the perception!

    Congratulations on a fulfilling career! I wish your Mom a speedy recovery!

    Sending you loads of love, with wishes for a wonderfully happy and healthy year ahead.

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    1. Thanks vidya for your comments; I am so glad to connect with you here especially you - who has always been my inspiration. Yes the year seems to have got over so fast, and am glad that there are so many memories to keep me happy and grateful. Appreciate you for your constant doze of motivational post, and thanks again for initiating the gratitude circle which has sustained me in difficult moments. Love and hugs to you.

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