GRATITUDE FOR MARCH 2020

“The best way to show Gratitude to God, is to accept everything, even the problems with Joy” Mother Theresa

This month began with the Lenten Sunday, a time for us, wherein the Church reminds us to renew our faith and take stock of our lives – a time to Fast, Pray and Give Alms. While I personally believe that we need to pray, fast and give alms right through the year and all our lives- as it helps us more than any other person.

I firmly believe in prayers and have over a period of time learnt to pray in different ways as I feel there are many ways in which we can stay connected to the Divine.  I am glad I have evolved to certain extent wherein I just sit in silence in gratitude expressing myself – at other times I keep talking positively expressing my gratitude for everything, while I am cutting vegetables, cooking, washing clothes, watering plants and some times even while I am just resting and doing nothing. I enjoy listening to inspiring and motivating talks and stories – all these help me stay in gratitude not just for the day.. I try my best to remain in a state of gratitude throughout the year, constantly learning, improving and making progress.

This lent I made it a point to fast on certain days too – and of course to practice kindness as much as I can, not just giving alms but also to let go off situations, people, events and experiences that could hinder me in being a free person.

I am grateful for every opportunity I get to meet new students for counseling. I not only learn so much from them, but admire them for their courage  to open up their hearts to me and I receive with humility and respect,  not that I have all the answers but can feel their pain and together with them find alternatives and  solutions  to deal with their wounds.

March 8^th is International Women’s Day and at the #YWCAofsecunderabad there was a buffet lunch organised a day before and it was nice to meet all our ladies, interact and enjoy delicious lunch. The same day I was glad to speak to the Government High School Children on Gender Sensitization, it was a relevant topic as the theme for this year was “Each for Equal” pointing towards Gender Inequality.  The students were very vocal and expressed their views and I was happy to interact with High School Girls.

Women's Day Buffet#ywcaofsecunderabad

I also participated the Women’s Day Celebration in the community adopted by the #YWCAofsecunderabad. We had a Supreme Court Lawyer who spoke to the women on Legal aspects and touched upon laws related to women. I did the translation from English to Telugu J. My confidence level in communicating in Telugu has improved, even though I am not good in line by line translation. I found I was able to translate the essence of the message, wherein I felt connected to these women, who were mostly home makers and few of them domestic workers.

I am grateful that we are initiating a stress and wellness center at my workplace- space has been allotted for us to expand and integrate psychological testing for our students, and also plan capacity building training for both students and faculty. It’s heartening to see the workers creating partition, false ceiling, and sound proof room for counseling and soon we will be shifting to a new place.  

I have been thinking for a long time to take a Metro Rail Ride - which never happened. I kept postponing for long and this month on the women’s day few of us friends decided to take the Metro rail and spend some time in the nearby park. It was like women’s day out as we roamed in the new metro station and played in the park with the children, rolled on the lawn after a long time playing throw ball was fun and then we stopped by for a cup of tea with some heavy snacks as we were tired and hungry. Thanks to my daughter Dorothy for leading us for a metro ride, grateful for everything and we came back home safe and sound.

Ginger Tea & Snacks at Metro station- Hyderabad

This month two of my friends celebrate their birthdays, and my Nephew's son too celebrates his 12th birthday. Birthdays are important reminders that enable us to be grateful for the very gift of life, gift of family, friends and all those persons who have touched our lives in different ways in our journey towards reaching our fullest potential.

Given the current scenario the whole world has come to a stand still – lock down, there is a fears, confusions, plenty of questions, and anxiety all over. The information overdose on COVID-19 is everywhere, faces book, whats app, news paper, television, including some fake news are constantly being bombarded. We are expected to stay safe and stay at home – this is an opportunity to stand together united, keeping calm, doing our best to make use of the time in a meaningful way.

Tried making some Wadas with Channa Dal:)

We had always complained that there’s no time for the family, no time for pursuing hobby, no time to connect with friends and the list is endless… this is time to focus on all those things we would like to do, and accept gracefully what cannot be changed at the moment. Be aware of the situation and reach out to those who are struggling – the elderly citizens whose children are abroad and have no one to help get groceries, medicines. The daily wage earners who live one day at a time. The maids who work in our homes, the drivers, vegetable vendors and those who have small scale business.

The government is doing their part – the police, GHMC and the medical fraternity is risking their lives to serve in hospitals, dispensaries and clinics. Grateful for these people who put others first in their lives while serving, I am not only thankful to them, but also pray for them everyday.

The effects of this situation are that we have given paid leave to our maid, and between us we have managed to sweep, clean, swob everyday, wash utensils and clothes and also cook and put every thing in order together as a family. I tried to keep to my routine, just like when I used to work every day and brought in a lot of changes in utilizing the time in a valuable way and at the same time keeping check on our health and safety of ourselves and others.

This month end is my mother in laws first death anniversary, and we are praying at home and cancelled gathering of our extended family to prevent ourselves from going out and also helping others not to visit our place…

I am grateful that I could reflect and write a gratitude post for March 2020 despite challenging moments of our time. I am glad to join Vidya at Gratitude circle on the last Thursday of every month.

Stay safe & Be Blessed