November 2023 Gratitude

“Don’t wait until the fourth Thursday in November, to sit with family and friends to give thanks; Make every day a day of Thanksgiving”CharmiaineJ  

The month of November is dedicated to all the souls in the families, there is a tradition in the catholic church wherein the 2^nd November is celebrated as All Souls Day – a day to remember with gratitude  all those who were part of our lives here on earth and are no more with us. It’s a time we remember all the departed souls in the family, and we pray for them.. So it’s a day of  prayer, offer mass at the church and visit the cemeteries.

This year I felt like visiting my son’s graveyard first, and then my elder sisters and afterwards my parents, grandmother, David’s mother, aunts, grandmother, brother and sister. So I went around three different places where all of these people are buried, offered prayers and put some flowers burnt candles and met few of my relatives. I am grateful for them for every one of them have in some way touched my life so despite of grief there is also gratitude.

November is also a month where we celebrate Thanksgiving day, not so popular in India – but I am glad for this reminder and am happy to celebrate not just this month but every day and all the days of the year. So here goes my gratitude list for the month of November 2023.

This month I was happy at my workplace for a  lot of students visiting me for counseling, at  our centre. There were also few of them referred by institutions and some of them connected with me online. It was a busy month and so much learning that happens, I am blessed to be working in the area of mental health.

I am grateful for the opportunity to be a resource person, for an online programme at the YWCA of Secunderabad on the occasion of the World YWCA and World YMCAS Week of Prayer, which is celebrated globally every year with a specific theme, this year theme was “Seeds to Blossoms” cultivating hope and love in solidarity. I got busy with preparing for this session, picking up appropriate scripture passage and sharing my reflections. This exercise was an introspection to look at my own faith and also helped me  renew my own faith in God.

This month I was involved in facilitating the a programme for the students at a Junior college,  following up with resource person, as well as the team for implementation, the topic was Health and Hygiene, the second session was on Mental Health. There were 250 intermediate students both boys and girls and it was a great programme and the topics were dealt very well by the resource persons. The students also interacted with them and a positive feedback was given.  I am grateful that together with a team we would accomplish this task in a smooth manner.

I am grateful for my friends who connected with me randomly, went out in an unplanned manner for a lunch in between my work and then came back to my workplace. I am happy for the pleasant surprise and thank God for these small joys of my life.

This month was also a long waited lunch party of one of our friends, who celebrated her birthday but we could not make it on the scheduled day; we  met for lunch and celebrated and affirmed her by not just cutting the cake but also made a reel for fun, and to cheer her up.  I am grateful for these moments that give me a break from my routine and also makes me happy to be surrounded with friends.

The weather changed this month we had some showers and suddenly chill in the mornings as well as evenings, so my morning walk was disrupted. I developed cold and cough, but somehow maintained the routine with limiting myself with  yogic stretches and affirmations and prayer in the early hours – tried walking in between to keep myself moving and also helped myself with alternatives of salt water gargle, steaming and drinking turmeric milk with pepper was comforting to my throat that helped.. I am grateful that this discomfort was manageable and I could continue to work without a break.

I am grateful that I could just look at some of my old albums, a favorite hobby and relive some of the beautiful memories of my life, one such was my graduation day, which was a discussion in our friends group and we started sharing our pictures and the stories that accompanied those pictures were fun.

I am grateful that I could attend a wedding of one of my Professor’s daughter, a house warming ceremony in our parish, visit a cousin of mine who had a knee replacement surgery. Different events that bring in a variety of emotions of happiness, joy and also a bit of sadness that keeps life going.

I am happy that the last day of the month was the election day, after all the noises in the city -campaigning everyday attracting people to vote with their promises –I am happy for this  privilege and went to cast my vote in the early hours. There was a Q and everything was smooth in our area, we had no problems, unlike some places there were minor incidents.

There are so many other small little things that I would like to be grateful  for, the breath of my life, the good health of mind and body, the basic necessities which we take for granted; the gift of family, work, friends, service providers and all those who are part of our lives, without whom the daily routines could disrupted. I am overwhelmed with gratitude to God and all those around me for the encouragement and support.

I am grateful God to be alive, happy and blessed, and welcome this beautiful month of December with love, hope and Joy.

How was your November ? thanks for reading my post, would love to hear from you;

Be Happy & Be Blessed !