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Pic.courtesy Maria Dorothy
I
am grateful that my ear is completely healed and I am feeling much better, to
be able to get back to my daily routine with no more complains about my health –
grateful to God for restoring back my health, so that I am able to get back to
my academics, career and connect with my friends.
I
am grateful that I get to go to work, and most importantly I enjoy and find
meaning and fulfillment in what I do. I meet my students every day listening to
their issues and enabling them to figure out ways and means to find solutions, these
experiences motivates me to live life to the fullest and never take anything for
granted.
There
was one student who brought her mother for counseling, with anxiety and severe
obsessions with over thinking and negative thought process. This was
challenging as her mother could not read or write and to help her with talk
therapy completely in Telugu and also teach her CBT(Cognitive Behavior Therapy)
concept was difficult;
“Gratitude for work is the foundation for a
fulfilling career”
But
I was keen to help her out so I decided
to do the whole session and the concepts in Telugu, rehearsing in my mind the
words and the sentences - I could not believe as I surprised myself and managed
to handle a couple of sessions
completely in Telugu. At the end of the session the person was so grateful that
she made a comment stating that she has never met anyone like me and felt it
was a divine appointment – she got teary and thanked me for the time and
efforts I put in this session. I was grateful that I gave myself a chance and
an opportunity to do something that I have not done before and it was a great
feeling.
I
am grateful that I could facilitate a session for the YWCA on Substance Abuse
and it s impact in one of our communities. Dr George Reddy was the resource
person (He is on our advisory board for the Centre) and it was heartening to
see so many women almost above 90 who belong to the self-help group.
“Gratitude isn’t a burdening emotion”
Loretta Young
Working
in the community is not easy; as the women have their own struggles of storing
water for a week; as they get water only once a week. And that day was the
water day and I thought the women may not come, but despite all odds most of
the women attended the programme and benefited from the orientation as Doctor
gave practical examples of how a person can get hooked to substances and the
impact of it in their lives and families and how this can be prevented, along
with helpline numbers and referrals.
This
month I was glad to attend a wedding of one of my friends daughter – that gave
me opportunity to connect with all my old friends, even though we are in the
same city – this marriage brought all of us together and it was a pleasant
evening together with great ambience and delicious food.
I
am grateful that this month I could meet one of our old classmates who retired
from her work and she was shifting to Bangalore due to her son’s job. So, she
called a few of our school mates for lunch and we connected almost after four
and half decades; there was so much to talk and we had a great time enjoying
our meal and meeting her family and then sharing our school experiences-
looking at our class photo and identifying
once another and our teachers was fun. It was a great experience and I look
forward for many more meetings with my school girls.
I
am also grateful for the many opportunities that I get to learn – my philosophy
exams got postponed to August due to other government competitive exams. So I
got more time to study. Meanwhile I also enrolled to do a certification course in
YOGA. This was the second batch the university is offering a Diploma and I felt
it is important to learn so that I can help my students. I have learnt yoga and
do practice Pranayama’s and few Asana’s every day – I am grateful for the guru’s
who have taught us, recall learning it in Bangalore while I was doing my
theology simultaneously.
This
month we celebrated one of our friends birthday- these are special group of
friends and we all work together in the area of mental health. As we could not
meet on the birthday, we decided to meet for a buffet breakfast. I am grateful
for these small joys in life wherein we connect for a couple of hours and get
back to our work places.
I
was glad to interact with 45 women and orient them on what is substance, and
why is it taken and how can we identify and prevent people from getting into
addiction. What steps can we take; and what are the places for referral and
where do they contact for help. These
moments divert me to do something different from my individual counseling
sessions and I do enjoy these awareness programmes and interacting with participants,
wherein I also encourage the staff to attend, learn and equip them to be able
to replicate these kind of sessions in the community.
I
watched a Malayalam movie on Net flicks, as Dorothy was very keen to watch Aavesham,
and I also enjoyed the popular comedy Sarbhai Vs Sarabhai.
There
were also plenty of surprises – I had two of my sister in laws on different
days making some special dishes for us – coconut rice, cutlets, wada, cake and
also mint chutney. I am grateful to God that all my basics needs are met and I am
surrounded by people who are warm, helpful and generous – it’s a blessing to
have people who care, value and stay in touch.
With a grateful heart I welcome AUGUST 2024 !
Hoping that this month will bring numerous blessings to all of us… as I end this I remember the people of waynad with landslides and so many lives lost.. I also read so many generous souls reaching out to them, the government doing its best; let us hope and pray and do whatever we can to reach out to this state.
Thanks
for reading my post,
Be Blessed & Be Happy!
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