December 4, 2021

Gratitude Post – November 2021

“It’s a funny thing about life, once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things that you lack”  Germany Kent.

Picked up flowers to honor the those who left the earth
The month of November began with memories of my mother, as first day of the month was her death anniversary, and the next day was All souls Day- an important day for us to remind ourselves that our lives here is temporary and we have to be conscious of it at least once a year so that we improve the quality of our lives.  As a family we visited the grave yard of my parents and also of my extended family. A feeling of gratitude for all the family members who walked on this earth before us, and have impacted my life.

I am grateful for the gift of life, and every opportunity I get to wake up in the morning and get into my daily routine. I am grateful for the work I do; this month at our counseling centre there were too many problems related to domestic violence. It was challenging to listen to so much of violence in families, especially faced by women and children. I am glad to be supported by my colleagues and my Coordinator who also helps in intervention and referrals, as and when required. 

A break from the usual diet- thanksgiving day

These experiences gives insight into the way how cultural conditioning can blind us and the traditions which sometimes can be oppressive, when we do not question and keep following, what was set for us; specially in our patriarchal system, wherein women do not have identity of their own, and they have to create it for themselves the space that is needed for them to develop an evolve to pursue their goals and dreams. It’s a privilege for me to working with victims of abuse and violence, wherein even small little changes will enhance their self esteem, thankfully I am happy to meet these women and respond to with appropriate intervention.

I am happy that this month we had the opportunity to visit Mahatma Gandhi University, Nalgonda District, Telengana.  We had a request for the sessions for the faculty as well as the students. I take this as opportunity for learning and was glad to interact with the faculty as the University is planning to set up a Counseling Centre for the students.

Place for South Indian Breakfast- Totally Organic

The other sessions were done by our team members who spoke on Substance abuse and anger management, these sessions were appreciated by the students. I was also happy to visit the District prison of Nalgonda and meet the prisoners. I found so many youngsters in this place; our Director took a session and interacted with the boys. On our way to this university we stopped by for breakfast at a nice place wherein we could enjoy traditional south Indian breakfast. The whole experience of traveling was beautiful with great scenic beauty of greenery all around. I clicked a couple of pictures from inside the car and enjoyed this road trip.

This month I am grateful for my sister in law (Mary) daughter Diana Marcus who received the First Holy Communion – an event where the child consciously takes a decision to belong to the faith and gets integrated into local Christian community. It’s a celebration in a big way where we invite families, extended families, cousins, relatives and friends and have a meal together after the church service. So we were busy planning this event.  David took the initiative in planning and implementing this event, as the child does not have her father, we were happy to be of  help.

November 25th was International Day for Elimination of Violence against women, and on this day through the #YWCA of secunderabad. I could visit the community for a session for the women. It’s been a long time since I visited the community, due to lock down we could not do much in the community, now things are gradually getting normalized, hence this session was a welcome change for me to go for off line session at our community. I am grateful for the opportunity to meet them physically and share my insights on the day with them.

I am glad that Dorothy was busy and she managed to do her exams well; this was the 5th semester exam and one more semester and she will complete her graduation. She will be completing her internship this December. This was a great exposure for her to work independently and learn on her own, and discipline herself to manage time, as she was also attending her classes, completing assignments, continued to sing in the choir, attend youth meetings and be involved in local association too.  I am grateful that everything is working fine with her and she takes help only when she requires otherwise she independent and has learnt to make her own choices in life.

David has been busy with the Sunday clinic and busy with the some of the follow ups with regard to pan card for Dorothy, correction of address in our aadhaar card, also our election card, making one for Dorothy this year as she is a major and has a right to cast vote. He has also been taking care of his health – exercising, maintaining proper diet and taking preventive steps to stay healthy.

I will turn 60 on the 29th of December, 2021 – my friends have decided to celebrate ME for a whole month from November, 29th to December 29th, 2021.

                                                    A memory shared by Subhandra

I am glad for so much of love and affection I receive and every day there was beautiful memories posted about me in the whatsapp group bringing happy memories of college, our outings, picnics and get together and plenty of experiences shared. I am enjoying every moment of this month as it’s a joy every day to see one friend posting about her experiences of her life with me. I appreciate Aparna for facilitating this whole process in the group.

                                  Thanks to Aparna for this lovely collage& prayer for me

 I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the 60 years of my life, I still feel young and energetic and can’t believe my journey has been long one and everything has worked out so well in my life leading me to a life full of meaning and fulfillment. 

                               Thanks to Dorothy for this lovely picture worth more than words

I hope to continue my journey with gratitude in my heart remembering my parents who laid the foundation of faith and gratitude in me, my family and extended families, teachers, friends and all those who have been part of my 60 years journey which has been an exciting one filled with learnings and lessons for life. I am now looking forward like a child to celebrate my birthday.

Thank you for reading this post; hope you had a great month too. I would love to hear from you.

Be Blessed & Be happy !

2 comments:

  1. Such a vibrant post Genevive! And now you have the whole month to celebrate your upcoming 60th birthday! It's also a celebration for your dear mother who gave birth to you. Your post and the photos are simply lovely! xx

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    1. Thank you Susan I feel honored to read your comment, happy too as everyday there is so much to be thankful for; yes I celebrate my mom too for without her I wouldn't be alive. I am counting very affirmation as my blessings and feel so excited to be surrounded with lovable people who celebrate me. Hope you are doing well... take care, love and hugs to you:)

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