Gratitude Post for July 2022

I am glad to write gratitude posts, as it helps me relive the whole experience once again and keeps me optimistic and happy.  I can’t believe that the month of July is over and we are in the 8^th month of the year 2022. Another 4 months and we are in 2023. Time just flies and there is so much more to accomplish in life. Despite the challenges of COVID and its variations, and small discomforts of life, here we are by God’s grace alive and living a life of gratitude.

I am grateful to God for the very breath of life everyday, for this whole month, and still blessed to be gifted with brand new days. Every day is a beautiful experience, causing me to be mindful of all the moments that sum up the day making it a memory for life. So here goes my gratitude list:

Gift of friends who share the same vision, working in social sector, meeting, updating one another about the emerging trends on social issues. I am glad we could meet for a pot luck and share our work experiences, and learn from one another.  It’s a blessing to have such friends and meeting them is therapeutic.

I am grateful for the opportunity to organised an orientation on Substance abuse and its impact on health at the Campus. I am happy to be involved in planning and facilitating the process as its an important issue especially among the youngsters.  We had an expert psychiatrist enlightening the students on this topic and session was appreciated.

Grateful for my sister in law Mary, ie. David’s sister –as she celebrated her 50^th birthday. 50 years is a long time and there’s so much to be grateful for all the experiences of life. She was supportive and helped me in looking after my kids when they were babies while I worked in peace as I knew that they are in safe hands.  I remember all those days and moments of my life and thank God for her.

I am also grateful for the gift of a long distance friend who visited the city and it was opportunity for me to meet and enjoy the company. We have been together in college and there are memories that bring joy and happiness. These friendships are important in the aging process for they not only motivate us but keep us secure from within; knowing that there is a friend who is just a call away, gives a sense of belonging,  help us grow towards becoming ourselves, there is no need to fake, hide or pretend but enjoy being who we are in these relationships.

I am happy to attend a memorial mass to celebrate the life of Mrs Priscilla Victor – she was my drawing teacher in the school. The students loved her class as that was the most relaxing time for there was no pressure of academics and she was sensitive, kind and loving teacher who taught us to draw. I remember she used to appreciate my brother who was good in drawing; he was slow learner but good in drawing. The interactions and the memories were fresh in my mind while I attended mass.  The celebration was a meaningful one, as her two daughters spoke; it was a emotional sharing that touched my heart.

I am also grateful to God for connecting with some old friends of the parish. I was happy to meet them and recall some beautiful memories, listening to their stories of travel to some of my favorite destinations. At the end of the conversation I was not only inspired but motivated  not to give up my travel dreams, and believe that I am getting closer everyday to my favorite travel destinations.

I am grateful for my brother’s family who live close by to my place- the privilege to go any time of the week and spend time with them makes me happy. There are always surprises waiting for me and Dorothy - Dorothy gets to play with my nephew’s children as they come up with some games/activity and they have their own fun.  We enjoy the new recipes tried by nephew’s wife Mona and her daughter Tabu.  Last time I tried some Egg pakoda and French fries along with finger fish. Another time it was cheese balls with bread and sauce. My sister in law keeps sending me some new dish attempted by her to us whenever she makes – I enjoyed the cutlets, brinjal curry and to David he gets special soup and black gram dal.

“Gratitude is powerful catalyst for happiness. It’s the spark that lights a fire of joy in your soul”

Dorothy is waiting for her entrance exams and is at home studying, and is small ways involved with the church and YWCA. She wanted to learn to read the music notations of the piano. Since whole day she is at home, she wanted to use some time for learning the piano notations. I took opportunity checking with my sister in law, Mary who works for st. Ann’s school as a teacher to see if there is a provision for learning.

Thanks to her I could go with Dorothy and take admission for a couple of months, till she gets admission into the university- she could learn the notations, as she know how to play the key board and plays by listening to songs. I am grateful that she started her classes in this month and is regularly attending the music classes and doing well learning to play the piano, and most important she is happy that there is some time to go out every day.

Stepping in St Ann’s school, I was overwhelmed with gratitude for this place transported me back to the old times. I worked in this place as a young graduate, just  out of college for two years as a lab assistant and  a substitute teacher for the primary section. I looked at every building, trees, grotto and the class rooms, I felt happy and grateful that this place gave me work to do, opportunity to interact with children and it was my first job and first salary was from this school.

This month I went for a eye check up and thanks to my friend Aparna who got the appointment for me and even accompanied me to the hospital. I am grateful that all well with my eye, just that I needed to change my spectacles… which I have done and it’s a relief to have new pairs for reading and also for riding.

I am grateful for the invitation by an Non Profit Organisation that works with battered women and marginalized one’s in the slums. They wanted me  to speak to their Field workers 25 women working in the slums in another part of the city. It was great interacting with these women who themselves are in the process of empowering themselves, and it was heartening to see that they are in turn working with other women in the slums, enabling to claim their rights and making a difference in their lives. I enjoyed talking to them and taking a session on basic listening skills in Telugu, which they were interested in and the session was participative one. I can see the improvement in my communication in Telugu by the response I got from these lovely women J

I am glad that I had an opportunity to talk to young people belonging to a church in the city, all of them professionals- some are pursuing medicine, engineering and psychiatry. The Director for the Youth ministry was keen that I speak to their youngsters on the importance of mental health, which was a great experience. After the session there were few youngsters who wanted to speak to me and I was glad that they could trust me to deal with their issues. So I encouraged them to seek help and provided all the information.

This month I am also happy to have met my youngest sister Leena for a brief while; it was her birthday and we have not been in touch for some years; and this year I chose to rise above our differences and spent some time listening to her and also picked up a small gift for her. She was so happy that she sent me a gratitude note… I felt good too of letting go of the past…

I even watched a couple of movies, thanks to my daughter Dorothy who ensures that I get some entertainment and she  comes up with movies encouraging me to watch.  Grateful for these joys of my life, where we sit and enjoy watching movies. I am happy, grateful and blessed for everything in life, there are challenges but I prefer to focus on what is positive and believe that every challenge will turn into opportunities for growth in our lives.

Thanks for reading my post, hope you had a great month. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Be Blessed & Be Happy!