“Reflect upon your present blessings – of which every man has many – not on your past misfortunes, of which all men will have some” Charles Dickens
August was a rainy month and it rained
heavily. I am grateful for the rains that washed the roads, cleansed the whole
place and luckily I could work from home – with Zoom meetings and Webinars and
helping my daughter in her assignments, there was more than enough work at
hands. I am grateful that despite the pandemic situation wherein there’s such a
crisis of employment. It’s a blessing for me to be working and involved in
satisfying, fulfilling and gratifying work.
The first week was also birthday of my
friend Aparna, with whom I have been working for more than a decade; she has
been so generous in reaching out to me especially helping me in connecting with
the right resources for referrals, helping me in research paper presentations,
and also booking travels whenever I planned to travel out of town either for
sight seeing or just a break. I feel
grateful for these kinds of relationships and believe that it’s a blessing to
have friends who understands us and would motivate us to get involved in
meaningful work.
When
you appreciate the blessings in life; your soul rejoices……
I had the opportunity to attend a
wedding mass, (one of the choir girl who used to sing in the Soldiers of Christ
group facilitated by David) and it was such a joy to be in the church after
almost 5 months and spend time in the church. While we took care of social
distancing inside the church and the premises had sanitizers at different entry
points. I loved the ambiance and clicked some beautiful pictures of the trees. The weather was cool and it rained the whole
day.
The best part was my daughter Dorothy
played the key board and led the choir to sing some lovely hymns for the
wedding service. I am grateful that she was using her skills positively and
also spending her time practicing the songs, along with managing her academics.
The whole experience of going out after a long time for a church service was
positive and we enjoyed delicious lunch and came back.
This month I did try some recipes which
I have attempted during the initial months of lock down, just to ensure that I
don’t forget them J I repeated soya chunks with potato curry;
black eyed peas gravy with roti, Rajma with Dosa (unusual combination) which I
liked. I am grateful that I could experiment and take these initiatives managing
work simultaneously.
When I am thinking about food – I am
always grateful that there is enough food for our family. There is also extra
food that is always being shared by neighbours, close friends and relatives.
This month there were so many times we got to get a different taste, for
various occasions and that minimized my cooking time J as I don’t like to waste food so was
sharing and storing in fridge.
I am grateful for the interactions that
I have had during the telecounseling sessions. Whenever I listen to the
students and their problems – I am in awe as to how they handle themselves with
their problems – this month I had students who come with not just one issue –Its
very challenging to deal with all of them as every person takes his/her own
time to cope, grieve, unlearn habits and reschedule time tables.
The GHMC staff that never misses a
single day, even during the last six months when there was a lock down, they
collected garbage from every flats and houses in our area. I imagine what
would happen if they don’t come to take the garbage, our flats, houses and the
whole area would stink… am thankful that these people have risked to come out
and collect driving their vehicle all around our area.
I am grateful for our friends who agree to pay the electricity bill for us; while they go to pay theirs and collect the money and get it billed for us. I think of the person who comes everyday in the early hours to sweep and clean the flat; and every 15 days washes and cleans the water tank so that we get clean water for washing utensils, clothes and cooking.
I have too many flaws to be perfect; but I have too many
blessings to be ungrateful..
Thanks to technology there are so many
good things happening in this pandemic – heartening to hear stories of how the migrants were
helped to reach their homes during lock down, by one man Sonu Sood who took the
help of his friends and reached out to so many.
I have seen so many organisations
supply provisions to families, still some who did not stop salaries for their
staff even though there was zero funding – but paid certain percentage to keep
the families running. There were some youngsters who were making and supplying
home made mask free of cost to all domestic workers and other service
providers. I came to know of one church in the city that was supplying daily
meals to the home less, rag pickers and beggars on the roadside.
I keep observing while I leave for work
– there is so much of goodness around and people are kind. There have been so
many deaths due to COVID 19 in the campus. Every time some one got infected the
departments were closed for next two to three days. I trusting the Lord as I continue my work
with gratitude, as I am aware I am not the only one at risk but globally all of
us are vulnerable. I pray and hope that we together will survive and open
ourselves to a new way of living our lives with gratitude.
I
thank vidya for initiating this process of forming a gratitude circle and
inviting everyone to share the monthly gratitude post .If you are interested in joining the Gratitude Circle:
Write a gratitude post,
Add the badge
Post it on the last Thursday of the month and
Add your link to the Gratitude Circle. https://vidyasury.com/
Thanks
for reading my post; hope you are doing well; how was your July, 2020. I will
be happy to hear your thoughts.
Be Happy & Be Blessed!
I liked your practice of having a virtual meet every week. Keeps the bonding alive.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mr Pradeep its always great to be emotionally connected with friends. I look forward for these meetings. hope your July month was great.
DeleteMeeting people and sharing thoughts...keeping connected always leads to a healthy relationship
ReplyDeleteTrue:) agree with you, being connected emotionally leads to good health.
DeleteIt is always lovely to read your posts, Janet. It is so important that we appreciate all the little things that facilitate our lives. So happy you had a pleasant month. Thanks for sharing the video of your daughter - it must have been so great to visit church and be part of a wedding! Your food adventures sound fun! That's one of the greatest things about this pandemic, I think. It has been fun to experiment with new dishes and enjoy the results. Thank you so much for being part of the Gratitude Circle and for always being so supportive. Sending you love!
ReplyDeleteThank you Vidya its a joy to read your comment and I owe a lot to you for every post I make on gratitude... I don't write much but somehow I am hooked to your gratitude circle and ensure that I keep writing one post on gratitude. You are a great motivator and I have learnt so much from you and every time I am inspired and feel like sharing your post. Yes the church visit was a pleasant one and having my daughter play for the wedding was a beautiful experience for me and David. Now that I have started going to the campus as its hundred percent attendance, I have less time to experiment with recipes:) but I am happy visiting the centre and spending time updating and also taking counseling sessions.Take care vidya and stay safe, love and hugs to you.
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