Glad to begin the New
Year with family and friends –beginning with prayer and thanksgiving for 2018
and offering the brand New year 2019 to the
Lord, so happy that the day was filled with delicious food, family and friends being surrounded
the whole day!!
There are so many
things to be grateful for; I am just highlighting the most important things
that are on my mind and I strongly feel a sense of gratitude for the same, am grateful to the doctor who helped me deal with persistent cold,cough & congestion due to the weather
conditions in Hyderabad (winter was extremely cold). I ended up being on the antibiotics for almost two weeks – but that did not
stop me from my routine – grateful despite all this I was able to work both at
home and at the counseling centre.
This month I am grateful that I could rescue a
person and prevent suicide, but was quite shaken as I got personally involved
with the victim – glad that at the same time I had people to share offer
support.
This year my priority
continue to remain focusing on my health – getting into daily walks, meditate,
pray, eat nutritious meals, practice affirmations, maintain gratitude journal,
yoga stretches and also tried mindfulness whenever I felt like…
South Indian Thali Lunch with my daughter after parent teacher meeting |
I am glad that I could
remain committed to the above most of the times, except for times when I felt
discomforts because of cold and cough – and also due to commitments.
This month me and my
family are happy that we could find a doctor for palliative care – my mother in
law had lot of issues due to the weather, and knowing her well we could find a doctor who is a kind and understands old age issues and she’s been helping us to take
care of her.
“To
care for those who once cared for us is one of the highest Honor”
I will not say all is
well – but would just be thankful that we have a team of doctors for help and
committed caretaker for her and David always like to go that extra mile when it
comes to care, for the last one week he has been looking after her in the
nights and continues to stay overnight comes home in the early hours.
I am only facilitating the process to get to the right resources and be around giving moral
support to the family. Currently
my mother in law is on feeding tube and we are helping her to gradually make a
transition peacefully surrounded by her sisters and children with maximum
support from the doctor. It’s a tough time for David and his sister as it’s a
challenge to watch their mom in a vegetative state …grateful for relatives,
friends and well wishers for their prayer support and visits.
After a full day training session @ MCHRD - Hyderabad. |
This month I am also
glad for the sankranti potluck with friends, sankranti celebrated in various parts of the country. This group of us have been working together for a longer period
of time, we have always met to discuss work and never took time off as a group –
we planned for an outstation trip which never materialized so the timing was
fitting for us to share our experiences of work and learning we
work as counselors in various setting. Second Saturday is off for all of us and we were happy to be together for few hours
sharing our experiences, laughing and distressing ourselves.
There was another
potluck at the #YWCAof Secunderabad and the occasion was to bless the premises
and also a session on Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace (POSH) was organized
for all the members, followed by the potluck Dinner. It was an important
session as the purpose was to orient the members on POSH and take it forward
with our staff and volunteers and to have a policy in place. This year #YWCAof
Secunderabad focus is help organizations & Institutions to have a posh
policy in place, and simultaneously also work with adolescent and youth on
orienting them on gender sensitization. It’s a blessing to be working for a
cause and also celebrating ourselves together with fun, friends and food.
This month I together with my friend Aparna Facilitated Training on Counseling skills & Techniques for counselors and social workers who work with
District Child Protection Units. The planning took a lot of time to evolve a
schedule as the participants worked with children in need of care and
protection, hence it was not the typical counseling programme – we had to get
into practical aspects of enabling and helping children who come from difficult
circumstances, as the counseling here is more on field and so its challenging to as one has to adapt and be flexible in addressing
issues based on the needs of the children and also manage with given environment.
It was a learning
experience for us too and I was surprised at my own capacity as the whole
programme was in Telugu J
and I have learnt to speak… over the years looks like I have mastered the language
and could smoothly handle sessions in Telugu, which is very positive feedback
from the participants.
Counseling skills training for social workers & Counselors |
Grateful to be involved in the community work through the #YWCA of Secunderabad that has adopted another community to empower children, adolescents, youth, men and women. There was a meeting with the leaders of the community, clarifying expectations and accordingly evolving a tentative plan to move forward.
This month I am also
glad that my daughter Dorothy did well in her pre final exams and it was a
pleasure to meet the teachers and take positive feedback; this was an opportunity
for me to take Dorothy out for lunch and spend some time listening to her
college experiences. She is in the Intermediate second year and was feeling bad
that she will miss her friends as they will separate this year pursuing their own
academic plans. Time just flies and soon the end of February she will write her
final exam and in June she will join degree college.
A surprise parcel assorted chocolates from a friend |
I am grateful for the
helper who comes home daily to maintain the house neat and clean, everyday and
has been coming on regular basis. There’s so much to be thankful for- its not
just roof over head, food on my plate and bed to rest – some entertainment ( I
watched a telugu movie, comedy and laughed for almost 3 hours, with my family).
It’s also meaningful work, encouraging
friends, motivating family and whole lot of people who support us right through
the year meeting all our needs…. 31 days of January is gone and we are entering
a new month February, 1, 2019 and so far everything has been learning and growing experience. Grateful to be alive and
completing this post J hope you had a great month, would love to
hear from you,
F2-Fun & Frustration a telugu comedy movie |
“Gratitude doesn’t change the scenery;
it merely washes clean the glasses you look through
so you can clearly see the colors”
Richelle. E. Goodrich
I hope this isn't a duplicate comment Genevive, but just to say that I'm sorry to hear of infections requiring antibiotics and hope that this is a thing of the past. Also, all good wishes, in this trying time while your mother in law is dying. Bless David and family and friends for their care and attention for her.
ReplyDeleteI love the attention you pay to your life -
Thank you Susan for connecting with me here; this is not a duplicate comment. I am much better and feeling healthy now, my mother in law is still in the same state and thank you for your kind words for David, our family and friends. Appreciate you for your constant affirmation. Thanks again:)
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