September 2024 Gratitude

“Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind” Lionel Hampton

September is always a very special month for me – as my first baby was born in this month and she brought me pure joy - the experience of motherhood is something that I have always cherished and this makes me recall and relive beautiful moments of my life. I can’t believe my daughter has touched 23 years.

She has been my motivation and drive after my son passed away and pushed me to do the things I would not have normally done. Hence this month fills me up and overwhelms me thinking about my journey; glad that she completed her post-graduation and evolving her own career path. I am grateful to God as to how He has been with us as family and helped her to reach all her milestones.

I am grateful for three more birthdays – David’s niece, Diana Marcus, Arushi, my friend Aparna’s daughter and my immediate neighbor girl and few more distant friends who celebrate on different days. The month began with celebrations – it’s also the birthday of mother Mary, we visited the shrine in the city and also met my eldest sister’s friend who is a nun working in the adjacent hospital. It was refreshing to meet her as she  is always there for me supporting through her prayers and kind words. I am grateful for her in our lives, for she filled the vacant place of my sister who is no more in this world.

PC Maria Dorothy

I am happy to visit my friends place to celebrate her daughter Arushi’s birthday – it was lot of fun as we had common friends coming over and we could be together for some time, enjoying and entertaining ourselves, good food, with friends to share and have a hearty laugh and make some reels to get our bodies moving.

I am grateful for the meeting I had with the HIV Beneficiaries of the YWCA of Secunderabad. There were almost more than 100 of them who get nutrition support from this organization; as well and every month they are oriented with different sessions which are relevant. I was there to speak to them on Stress management & Mental health- giving them awareness on how to deal with stress and what steps can be taken to be mentally healthy. The session was good and I had a good time interacting with them and addressing some of the questions and taught them simple stretches & self-affirmations. This was a meaningful activity and I am glad I could do this session for them.

This month was a busy month due to the Yoga classes(which is a certificate course) that I have been attending on a regular basis at the campus on all the weekends – a lot of learning, and I found all the sessions were interesting. The resource persons were very good and the first thing in the morning was dedicated for practical sessions,  we followed as per the Ayush protocols, all the asana’s were taught and we were expected to practice it, the next two to three sessions were all theory classes by different professors who taught the other aspects, like the Introduction to yoga, Traditional concepts, contemporary issues, the different system of our body – skeletal, respiratory, digestive systems etc.

I am grateful that I found opportunity to teach the graduates i.e., students of psychology, hence some part of my time went in preparing their lessons. I taught Cognitive Psychology and it only reinforced my learnings, and this time the university was particular we do the power point for all the units – and I am happy to do it and present it; I am thankful for my daughter Maria Dorothy for always helping me with the technical aspects of handling the online classes. I learnt how to connect my cell phone to lap top and share my PPTs. She is always there whenever I need help; and she is quick to solve any problems..

This month at the YWCA there was AGM – Annual General Body Meeting and I am glad to be on the Board. This year  I am the President – a responsible position, with competent board and the committed staff I trust the Lord to lead me perform the duties as laid out.

As per the norm after the AGM & Elections we have the Candle Light Ceremony –the purpose is to take a oath and commit self along with the newly elected board, to stay true to the organization principles and the constitution. This is also a time to formally thank the previous board for their services and encourage members to stay active and volunteer to be on various committees that will be formed for this year.

I thank God for opportunities I get to interact with the student community – this month I was invited to the Mahatma Gandhi University, Nalgonda (TS) as an external examiner for the PG Psychology students. I was there in the campus for a whole day checking their record work after their theory exams and also conducting viva exam. The faculty was there and they were helpful and together we completed the task.

I was glad to stop by a place on my way to Nalgonda called the “Village Kitchen” that serves authentic South Indian breakfast. I like this place as they serve good breakfast and they maintain it well too. I enjoyed the onion dosa and a cup of coffee at this place; these are small joys of life.

I am grateful that I could watch a nice web series called “Call me Bae” along with my daughter I watched all the 8 episodes, every now and then with her. It was fun to watch, with light humor and something different from the regular ones.

This month I am grateful for my school buddies who wanted to connect as it’s been a long time since we all met together; so we all decided to meet out for lunch and do some reels trending on the Instagram – we had so much fun doing it, and thanks to my daughter Maria Dorothy who is so helpful and kind with all of us, despite our imperfections of the dance steps – we enjoyed and had a great time.

The month was short – but I never went to bed hungry, there was always food on my table. There was enough time to rest/sleep.   I never had anything to complaint for I am blessed with my family and friends; there were discomforts for a couple of days; but I healed faster this time and I am eternally grateful to God for keeping me alive and blessing me with new experiences every day of my life.  I get to go to work and there were students for counseling –being the exam time there were not many students – but I had enough work to keep myself occupied and busy submitting assignments and preparing myself to complete the certificate course.

I am thankful for every day, every hour, every minute and every second that has gone by – and feel eternally blessed as I write this post, am reliving all those moments with gratitude.

Thanks for reading my post; hope you had a great month.

Be happy & Be Blessed !