December 31, 2017

Gratitude Post-December, 2017

“When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed” Maya Angelou 


December is my favorite month, mainly because I love Christmas, which for me is the greatest expression of Love, Liberation and Hope. I look forward to celebrate meaningfully, looking within myself and feeling grateful for Gods most wonderful Gift –Emmanuel, which means God with us. The concept of God becoming human is something mind blowing, at the same time its giving hope that all of us humans too can become Divine.
Yarada Village Beach, Vizag
December for me is  a time to share,  affirm, celebrate and become conscious of all the blessings in my life  and share all the blessings of life…Gratitude has always kept me happy and balanced. It is a way of life for me now, which means I allow and accept everything that happens in life with gratitude including the unhappy and sad moments that life offers.

This month there were hard realities in life too, death of my 3rd brother Vincent Dass who died attending the Sunday service in a church, leaving his wife and a young daughter. The news came as a shock to me and our family, no words can be comforting for a family that has lost a member; it opened my eyes to see death part of life and not opposite of life…. On the same day there was a suicide by a 23 year old student who was a topper; and first generation learner, there was lot of confusion and turmoil in the campus, and being in the service area we had to keep our centre open despite all the chaos around the university campus.

The media was looking for a story and wanted to know whether he was depressed; whether he visited our centre etc... the new students were shocked to see their class mate hanging from the ceiling in the hostel toilet. A few of them who saw could not deal with their own emotions, were disturbed and came to the centre with  fear and anxiety. I had to be watchful and sensitive to be available for the ones who came in, there were bandhs, laticharge, strike and police and media all around the campus. It is very disturbing to work in this environment and as counselors we are available to ensure that the students take help when they are depressed and feel lonely in a huge campus.

with Mahesh on his birthday
I visited my brother’s house to meet my niece and my sister in law who were grieving; I felt that the best time to condole is when everyone leaves after all the formalities, and two of them are left alone to deal with the loss. I could spend little time getting into the details of their experiences and just be there for a while doing nothing, just providing assurance and a little support.

This month is also my son Emmanuel’s birthday, and it’s a usual routine that we visit his graveyard. Its 7 years that he no more with us and we do miss him a lot as he was so very vibrant, energetic and charming.  We offered mass at the church, picked up some snacks and some gifts for the kids. A day before is the birthday of Mahesh- I have written about him in my earlier post, here’s the link:

Last year I was down with dengue and could not really go out much, so I missed Mahesh’s birthday. This year I am in good health and happy to move around, so I along with David visited Mahesh to wish him for his birthday as Dorothy my daughter had exams.

This month is also my birthday and I complete 56 years of my life here on this earth J and wow what a wonderful feeling, looking back and counting all the years, the experiences of my life both lovely ones  and negative ones together strengthened and empowered me. My experiences have taught me to look at my life with close quarters and let go of what is not important, bid goodbye to some relationships that was hindering my progress, sapping my energy levels leaving me depleted.

with my classmates  at College
I have journeyed with  faith, hope and gratitude, opening myself to  newer experiences of life, new  relationships along the way,  reconnecting with my old classmates & friends, finding newer ways to stay motivated, and constantly enabling myself to chose what I want to do and aligning myself to activities that bring  in meaning and fulfillment.

“Being grateful does not mean that everything is necessarily good. It just means that you can accept.” Roy T Bennett.

We did have some celebrations, a first birthday of Loraine, a cute little child from our church community,  an engagement of David’s relative, and then of course gifts for my birthday in advance- a travel suitcase  from my sister in law which is very handy, useful and  much needed as I travel has increased in the last few years . This was special and I chose the colour that I wanted. There were 2 lovely Salwar sets from a close friend, and a pretty saree from David along with a few more casual wears for my office.
Appreciate the thought, time and Genorosity
Gifts for my birthday:)
This month I attended the Alumni meeting in St Francis Degree college along with my class mates– after which we roamed in and around the college - identifying places where we used to have lunch, buy snacks at the canteen – which is now shifted, our favourite  rocks  where we used to sit in the sun, which are  now broken for expansion of the college, the trees and small lawn where we took our degrees J It was so refreshing to walk down the memory lane, visiting the new canteen and ordering some sandwiches with coffee and laughing away recalling our days, and stopping by a joint to have an ice cream was fun.

David was busy with organizing prayer service for Christmas celebrations, and also managing the clinic, while my daughter was busy in the choir singing. This time she was happy to sing the carols in the college with her classmates, and also visit an orphanage to share whatever was collected from her college.
Merry Christmas at St Cecilia's Church

Merry Christmas at Home with friends:)
I am so happy with all these gifts and the best part is the celebrations in advance and a visit to my dear friend at Vizag. We had a lovely time and spend time going around visiting the nearby places and enjoyed good food and conversations that brought us closer and enabled us to appreciate the gift of relationships.

We are so blessed to have a committed caretaker who is very helpful and kind, and looks after my mother in law so well; with all the health issues, she is able to come to church in a wheel chair, thanks to the caretaker’s effort.

This month too I have posted trees to show love, spreading green virtually. Here’s my link:
http://livealifeofgratitude.blogspot.in/2017/12/tree-love-25-beauty-of-tree.html

This month my post is delayed due to a short break I took for myself; but I was particular that at least I post this today, being the last day of 2017 and few more hours as I welcome 2018 with a smile and a heart full of gratitude J


Thanks to  Vidya  https://vidyasury.com/2017/12/grateful-by-default-gratitude.html  for this gratitude circle.
I had an amazing journey- I appreciate Vidya for her energetic and motivating posts that kept me going too J

Hope you had a great December,

Wishing you and your family members a very happy Christmas and a bright New Year 2018!!

Be Happy & Be a Blessing !!

10 comments:

  1. Beautiful photos, lovely reflections Genevieve. I remember you having the dengue fever and so pleased that you recovered well from that. All good health in 2018 and I look forward to continuing posts which I so enjoy xx

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    1. Thanks susan, so happy to have you here and yes last year was very challenging, with dengue:) glad to have recovered and since then have been making healthy choices and I hope for complete recovery, vibrant health and happy blogging:) wishing you good health, peace, harmony and fulfillment in 2018.

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  2. Hello Angela, I am glad you have recovered from the fever. It is nice to know you took enough time for yourself and then posted this one. What lovely memories are the college and school days. You must have had a lovely time with your college pals revisiting all those times. Have a wonderful 2018 Angela.

    Also, thanks a lot for stopping by my blog

    Love, Jayanthy.

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    1. Hi Jayanthy, thank you for your concern... being healthy has been my top priority for 2017, so I did everything to ensure that I stay fit and active. 2017 has been a lovely year for me and I am grateful for all the support I got from family, friends and colleagues to enable me to get back in action. Thanks for your comments, I appreciate you:)

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  3. Lovely pictures and I so admire you Angela for all that you do for the community. I have read about your work before and this month too, I am so honored to know someone like you who is compassionate, kind and gentle. May you always stay blessed. Wishing you a happy 2018!

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    1. Thanks Parul, feels so good to see your comments, encourages and motivates me. Glad to have found you here in this space and feel humbled by your compliments - wishing you the very best in 2018, and may you continue to be an inspiration to those around you. Love and hugs

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  4. its heart warming . despite the setbacks you bounce back with vibrant energy. Here s to a wonderful 2018 Angela!

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    1. Thanks Akshata, appreciate you for your kind words, it means a lot, hope you a have a great year ahead, wishing you Gods blessings !

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  5. You are a wonderful person, Janet. You deserve all the good things!
    Really sorry to hear about your brother.

    Cant believe you're 56 :-) Happy birthday!

    Thank you for the kind words, and thank you for being part of the Gratitude Circle. Hugs!

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    1. Love you vidya for the compliments, you made my day today... just completing my work at the counseling centre... its was a long session of couple counseling, was feeling heavy, reading your comment brought a smile to my face and made me feel so much lighter... yes I am 56 :):) my pleasure to be part of the Gratitude circle, enjoy writing gratitude post and always enjoyed your power packed energised gratitude post, wishing you wellness and happiness to you vidya.

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