T’was a night before Diwali and 2 nights before Halloween. Sitting by myself in my living room, I was caught reminiscing about my life and how grateful I was for this very calm and comfortable existence. My son had gone out of the city for a 10-day retreat of sorts and my daughter was out for some pre-Halloween fun that evening. Well, my reminiscing started even before I found myself alone in my living room.
Driving back from the gym after an hour of rigorous cross-trainer and spin cycle cardio work and stretching, I was wondering how I would occupy myself that evening when my daughter would leave with my car to meet her friends. I looked at the sky above and cars whizzing by and felt overcome with emotion at what God had provided for me.
I felt overly content and blissful at the thought that God is kind. I had just turned an undisclosable (not a word, you say?) age, had just sort of left my rigorous online teaching work, and had 2 beautiful children who were working and sharing their life with me. I have a beautiful mother who loves me so dearly, a loving and doting father in heaven, who we miss very much, a comfortable life and home in India where I go every now and then, and a fine healthy body and mind (this was written before my fracture J).
I felt the urge to pen down my thoughts that evening. I was happy, I was grateful, I was at peace. Not that everything in my life was peachy-keen, though. This existence would be too boring and taken for granted if we had everything that we ever needed, don’t you think? We would feel entitled and would possibly not even remember that there is a higher power looking down on us and vouching for us. Nevertheless, I knew that I would feel productive and satisfied if instead of watching the Trump/Clinton circus or a movie or two on TV, I would express my utter love for all I have, in writing.
I am thankful, through the events and struggles and reflective months and years gone by, that I have grown to be a persistent hopeful and consistently (almost) positive individual. Why? And most importantly how? I don’t know!!
Suffice it to say that the many years of my personal down time forced me to assess me and everything I stand for, and to pray for strength, courage, determination, intelligence, calmness, and faith. I found that slowly but surely, I gained the strength I desperately needed and the confidence to stay in tune with my goals. I have matured, I think, although I do have some amusing expectations of life that I will opt not to pen down here. Simply stated though, there is still a young woman inside of me that wants fun, laughter, dancing, friendships, outings, travel adventures, a caring hand on my shoulder, and bear hugs to come and go, among other things on my bucket list!
But, I cannot simply go through a day and night without the thought that I am truly blessed.
Don’t we all have something to be grateful for? It’s a case of glass half empty versus a glass half full. Just staying positive, ahead, and cheerful creates a present that is worth living and working hard for- whether in terms of love or money, spirituality or thought. A peaceful country to live in, a good family to belong to, a healthy intelligent mind to be productive with, a usually calm demeanor that keeps your mood in check, loving friends to share your idiosyncrasies with, a comparatively strong body to ward off evil (!), despite the other not so happy accompaniments (like my recent fracture and loss of job), are somewhat overwhelming truths about us that we must be thankful for. In my case, even the loss of job I considered as a gift because now I have something very interesting to pursue and my fracture made me realize that I have to slow down. It also made me appreciate what I have and what I had.
Without a doubt, a glass half full is a better perspective than that of a glass half empty. If my short note here on feeling blessed inspires even one person out there to be positive, I will be thrilled!
Cheers, everyone!
