Did Gratitude Pay A Visit To Your Heart Too?

March- The month of closing accounts, the month to attain the deadlines and targets, the month when common man is ripped off his pockets (read taxes), the month of board exams, lastly, the month of holidays and festivals.

So, grey isn’t the only shade that March offers, it also brings barrel full of other colors that overshadow the grey-ness of the air. And I did enjoy an all colorful March with variations of smiles in the colors.

Travel always makes me content. Be it solo or with friends and family tagged along. And when it’s your home town you are travelling to, the journey in itself becomes exciting. It was an odd time to go home but I am glad that I went. Parents being out of city made it possible for my sister and I spending all the time together. I played and fought with my nephew. Got to witness his Karate moves. I must say he is doing really well in his Karate classes. I am grateful for the time I got to spend with my sister and could give her ear to everyday struggles.

Another passion of my life after trekking is photography.  I clicked lot many pictures. Since the onset of summer was prevalent, I had stopped trekking and diverted my mind to concentrate on my second love. My instagram feed got room for many new pictures too (Wink).

Sometimes, a change in routine also makes us feel grateful for the various seasons we have. Atleast this gives us reason to concentrate on few more odd things around.

Give-Aways are sublime. I gave away many unused stuffs like a pair of new shoes that did not fit me, an unused comforter, old clothes that my sister had abandoned before she left for Bangalore to the lady who collects garbage from our building. (I did ask her if she was comfortable accepting my offer and she was fine with it).

She did reciprocate with a broad smile which I had hardly noticed earlier. For the first time in 2 years, I asked her name. "Jaya" - She said with another smile.

Sharing is such a peace. It simply let's us feel humbled. 

Love and Smiles- They free you from the shackles of anger and  the feeling of unwantedness that very often creeps around.  

I am grateful for the people in my life who do make me feel loved all the time. I am grateful to have been surrounded with my family and my friends who have been my anchor whenever the gloomy tides tried to wash my happiness away.

Resuming my morning walks made me realize how much I missed them all these months. Winters had made me supremely sluggish to get out of the bed during those early hours. I am grateful that I felt the concern to concentrate on my health all over again.

Unknown faces- I hardly travel by local trains in Mumbai these days. Come March and I found myself travelling by local train to a friend's place. The compartment was jam-packed and I was standing near this girl. She asked me where I was headed to. Hearing that I would alight at the last station, she stood up and let me sit since I was carrying a heavy backpack and there wasn't any place to keep it either. 

I did talk to her after we got down at the same station. asked her name and thanked her for what she had done. She too responded with a broad smile.

A small help from someone unknown makes a lot of difference. It might not change our life or solve our problems but it does cheer us up for that particular moment and we do bear that in mind for days to come.

I am grateful about the fact that I decided  to have boarded the local train that day. 

A simple smile does have the power to transform moods of a livid heart.

How did gratitude pay visit to your heart? Do mention in the comments.

Linking this post to Vidya’s GratitudeCircle Blog hop for March 2016.

Share your thoughts with me at dipanwiita@gmail.com

Never Shy Away From Expressing Gratitude - My September List

“When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.”

― Maya Angelou

Few days back, we celebrated “World Gratitude Day” on 21^st September. I always wanted to write something on this topic but missed the opportunity then. However, thanks to Janice Kaplan and Vidya Sury  for their initiative of The Gratitude Diaries which gave me the second chance to write on this topic. 

I am also overjoyed about the fact of being a part of their gratitude circle. Gratitude always enhances the best out of any person. It will most certainly help me to stay level-headed at times when situations go out of order.

On this last hour of the last day of September, I sit here and try to recollect how my entire month has been so far. September has been a roller-coaster ride for me in every aspect. Time for being thankful for the tough days that aroused the hidden strength, the emotional upheaval when I had to vanquish my pain and tears to entrust strength in some dear ones, the hard laughs that made my stomach ache. The list seems to go on and on.

Hence, starting off with my gratitude list for September.

• I am grateful for the friends I have in my life. Without them, I would have gone askew. Friends, who help me deciding on which dress to go for while shopping, friends who accompany me on those crazy treks I go, friends who wipe my tears when I am unable to do so myself, friends who share those deep breaths after that hard laugh, friends with whom I can share any and everything that I do and friends who always bring out the best in me.

• For all the evenness that has been going around with my parents’ health. I am grateful that they are healthy and for the time being (since the past 2 weeks) have stopped cribbing about me going on treks which would otherwise bother them the most.  

• Testing times and Wake Up Call. I have received maximum number of bad news (horrible should be the word) during the month of September. I have learned to be even more stronger. Also accepted the fact that it’s time to get a medical insurance done. Yet again. (I had reneged on my previous insurance due to differences in opinion with the service provider). Sometimes, adversities teach us a great deal in life and I am grateful for all challenges life tried to throw on me. I have evolved as a much stronger person, both emotionally and mentally.

• Visiting Lord Ganesha during Ganesh Chaturthi. When it comes to being religious, I would be the most imbecile one in the crowd. However, I do visit temples every now and then to respect the belief of my parents’ and to make them happy. Sometimes, we do things that we ourselves do not approve of just for the sake of someone else’s happiness. I am thankful that I had done it during the festival. There was a different aura in the surroundings during the evening aarti (prayer) followed by the distribution of prasadam. I somehow felt overwhelmed. I am grateful that I have this do-something-to-make-others-happy streak in me. It emphasizes some credence in me.

• I am supremely thankful for the books I was suggested by couple of friends. They are lying on the shelf of my mini library as of now. But I am happy about the fact that I got them home and would start reading them very soon. 

• Listening to my heart’s say. I go for weekend treks quite regularly and trekking is like a kind of meditation for me. At the start of September, I had decided that I would stop going on further treks. However, I listened to my heart and went ahead for another trek. I am grateful that I had decided not to quit trekking. Mentioned my experience on the same in my previous post here.

• Cooking. I absolutely love cooking but had stopped cooking for the past 1 year due to some circumstances. Few weeks ago, I had moved to a new home and my roomie insisted that I start cooking all over again. After a long period of discontinuity, I started with biryani. And yes, it was yum. I was all smiles and felt content. I cannot thank my friend enough for the long needed coercion.

• Meeting my best friend. Monday was the day I decided to visit my best friend after work. Her parents were in town and I got to meet uncle and aunty after a decade. I am happy that I made the sudden decision to visit her and stay over. As a customary, we skipped our sleep and kept on chatting the entire night. “Apne sukh-dukh ki kahani baatne me lage rahe saari raat”. It’s always pure bliss to talk things out with your best friend. You can never have enough of it.

Here comes a pause till next month’s gratitude expressions come in.

To wrap things up, I would love to know your share of gratitude in attitude during September. Please do mention and spread the joy of sharing and caring.

Linking with The Gratitude Diaries

Share your thoughts with me at dipanwiita@gmail.com