Gratitude List for January 2020

“Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude.

Gratitude is the completion of Thankfulness

Thankfulness may merely consists of words

Gratitude is shown in acts."  

-         Henri Fredric Amiel

I was listening to Joel Osteen’s message and in one of his talks he was sharing about how much dependent we are on everyone around us; and how important it is to be grateful for.  He was stating that we are dependent even before we had come into the world – by the doctors who treat us, family that takes care of the child even in the womb and a whole lot of people who constantly serve us…. That set me thinking and I started every person in my life who have blessed me and enabled and empowered me and still continue to support. It is this feeling of gratitude that motivates me to do good and contribute generously my time and energy for worthy causes. So here I go with my gratitude list for the month that has just slipped away:

Grateful for the family, that is supportive and together we began the new year with thanksgiving to the almighty, attended mass –prepared breakfast and later on David cooked delicious chicken curry for lunch; we enjoyed having sumptuous meal in the afternoon, rested a while and visited friends in the evening hours at pizza hut.

I am immensely grateful for good health especially cough which was persistent for two months left me J at the dawn of the New Year. Grateful for the Unani medicine which worked wonders and it was such a relief to be back to normal and healthy, and could even sing.

Grateful that we were healthy and energetic to organize the pre wedding celebrations of my nephew Samuel.  Sam is my last brother’s eldest son and I and David are his God  parents J  Relatives from my dad’s side came from Pune to stay at my place for the wedding two days in advance. My uncle and my cousin, they joined in the celebration– we bonded after a long time  and it was fun recalling, reliving memories of our younger days when we as children used to go to pune for summer holidays, and never like to come back. My uncle was very particular that whenever I visited pune even on official work – he used to take me home on Sundays for lunch, dinner and would come back to my room with heavy snacks.

The wedding was on 8^th January, 2020 – we had planned the whole wedding and by God’s grace everything went as per the plan and the schedule, luckily there was no rain, prior to which we had some showers in the evening hours. It was a huge responsibility for our family and I am grateful to God that it’s over smoothly and it took another week to complete all the formalities of the wedding.

This month I am glad also to coordinate a two day workshop from home (as I had taken leave for the wedding) on IPT – Intimate Partner Violence on the 9^th & 10^th of January, 2020.  I am grateful to God that I could coordinate and make all the arrangements needed for the workshop and could do it without being physically present J my skills have improved and confidence level is enhanced. J I went on the second day for a courtesy visit and met all the participants had lunch, took a couple of photos and selfie and ensured that everything was under control.

The same evening there was blessing of the premises in the YWCA (Young Women Christian Association) of Secunderabad. It was time to pray, reflect and listen to a Priest who shared eloquently the word of God and inspired the group. I also had the opportunity to talk about the new thrust for the organization to the members on the new project - Integrating community development at two of our communities.

We had the Holy Communion at our church and as a family we went for the celebrations of our relatives and friends- time to socialize and connect with the near and dear after the New Year.

I am glad to have watched a Telugu movie this month Ela Vaikuntapuramlo…. Entertaining and laughed the whole movie with my daughter and the newlyweds of our family.

Grateful for the  continuing education programme on “Understanding Depression” organized by Dr Diana Monteiro of Hyderabad Academy of Psychology. The session was good and interactive. The Resource person was Soumaya Madhubushi, a Counseling Psychologist from US with years of experience and passionate about training. This session was useful to me as I have been dealing students in depression for a whole week. These sessions give an insight into the problem, enhance the knowledge and skill, providing opportunity to meet the others working in similar field, sharing experiences and learning from one another. It’s a blessing to have opportunities for continuing education.

Counseling students with depression can be very draining; and I could see that it was affecting my moods and giving me feelings of sadness; thanks be to God for a good friend who pointed it out and suggested me to take a short break. I went out with her and spent some time talking about the issues bothering me and we went out for a while. I am grateful for friends who are sensitive and do not wait for me to talk but understand and make plans J to distract you.

I am grateful to God for the regular supply of everything that is needed for daily living - not only the basic necessities but also surprises– this month twice my sister in laws sent me idly batter so my morning breakfast is taken care, a friend sent me organic vegetables and I tried making some pumpkin sambar.  I even received a pretty dress from one of my extended family member and plenty of snacks for the festival of Sankranthi from our close friends in the neighborhood.

I keep counting my blessings everyday and happy to have conversations that is empowering me and leading me to help me manage myself in being regular to my work, to keep focusing on my PhD and more importantly stay connected with work and friends.

I enjoy posting the Thursday Tree Love posts hosted by, with the link given below: If you are interested to join you can check this link.Parul http://happinessandfood.com/tag/treelove/

Linking this post to Gratitude Circle hosted by vidyasury.com

One month of the year 2020 has gone and I am glad that another month has arrived and I am alive and breathing to keep counting my blessings…

How your January was J would love to hear from you.

Be Happy & Be Blessed.