Gratitude for May 2017

May was a relaxing month - being summer holidays for my daughter, the routine changed, no more in a hurry to pack Tiffin in the early hours, and fear of missing the school bus, absolutely no stress, pressure and tension.  

There was enough time for myself to take a walk every day and spend some time in meditation and doing some stretches. This month Maria attended the Vacation Bible School for 10 days and I was happy for the decision she made and ensured that she attended almost all the days – this year she was part of the young adults group and learnt singing, dancing, preaching and also making charts and presentations for the exhibition.

As parents we attended the last day of the camp and enjoyed watching the children perform singing, dancing and skits. Maria won prizes for singing, preaching and also got the shield for the best all round student of her class J

This month  there  reunion of the colleagues for the second time – I am  grateful for meeting all of my old colleagues together and having a heart to heart conversation, which is such a blessing, especially in this time when everybody is rushing in and out accomplishing so many things faking a smile and the conversations are on the superficial level. It’s a gift to have genuine relationships that are non judgmental, providing fun and happiness. There was a buffet lunch and I broke all the rules I set for myself for the moment; relished the company of red wine and old friends and delicious lunch.

I am also glad to watched bahubaali with my David and Dorothy; after a long time with David as he is always involved in something or the other in the church; so we pushed him to come along and had fun watching this movie in Telugu.

I attended a working breakfast meeting with the board members of Sahayam- psychological counseling centre and was happy to interact and discuss various issues related to the centres activities and programmes; it was an opportunity for meaningful interaction on breakfast, wherein I enjoyed the paneer dosa and a hot cup of tea and stimulating discussions across the table.

I also got few surprises on the mother’s day – a beautiful perfume bottle and later on a treat at one of the new joints in our city. Grateful for the surprises; for me it’s not just what I receive, but the very fact that I was in someone’s thoughts and prayers. I value the time and energy invested in picking up something special makes a lot of difference.

This month we also initiated a clinic at our parish community. Health is wealth and we have been blessed with a committed doctor who is very good in diagnosis and is passionate to work in the community. With our own personal experiences of being treated by him, we felt a need to begin a clinic that would address the needs of the local community – as health care is health industry now and the middle class and the poor are not in a position to spend so much money for the unnecessary tests written by the doctors who are hand in glove with the diagnostic centres and medical stores.

It’s almost 3 weeks and we have the doctor coming for 3 hours every Sunday morning with minimum consultation fee that covers medicines too. A young nurse has volunteered to help for those few hours, assisting the doctor for injections and helping the patient.

This month we are waiting patiently for my daughter’s results which are yet to be published. I have brought the application form from the college filled and submitted too. Hoping for a smooth transition to the next level of education and happy for the progress.

The weather has been extremely hot in our city Hyderabad touching 45 degrees… and with frequent power cuts both at home and at work – I am grateful that at least we did not have power cuts in the night; we could sleep peacefully with the cooler and the fan on and continue our routine.

Gratitude is the sum of Great + Attitude – Avi Liran