Inhaling Love Exhaling Gratitude

Inhaling love, Exhaling Gratitude – I so love the sound of that!

Yes, plenty to be grateful for, always. This month, here’s what I am super-grateful for!

• The opportunity to expand my child sponsorship because I had a bonus project to work on. I was beyond thrilled to have the opportunity and practically burst into tears of joy when I received a couple of handwritten letters from the family. Choked with happiness. Really. And gratitude that I could make a tiny difference.

• Earlier this month, we celebrated Dussera/Navratri, the 10-day festival. This year was very special for many reasons. To start with, I did not do anything at home except clean up the place and distribute things to the dear folks who make our lives easy in our community. This year, I had the honor of joining Mahita Fernandez, a warm and wonderful person who initiated the Feed Your Neighbor  movement in Bangalore. Her goal? To make sure at least 100,000 people did not go to bed hungry during Dussera, which was Oct 12 to 22. The support that poured in was overwhelming, both in cash and kind. On Oct 22, Mahita clocked in 122937. Here is the whole story.

But that’s not all. Giving is such an easy habit.

And now, carrying it forward, we’ve formed the HUG group – Humane Universal Good Deeds Network Because what could be warmer and more binding than a great BIG HUG?

“I slept and I dreamed that life is all joy. I woke and I saw that life is all service. I served and I saw that service is joy.” 
― Kahlil Gibran 

This Diwali, November 11, even as Feed your Neighbor focuses on eradicating hunger, HUG will work towards raising donations in cash and kind. I am looking forward to being a contributor.

• A quick trip North that included happy time with friends and their little ones, getting caught in the rain during an early morning walk, watching loads of pristine white cranes elegantly strolling on the green green grass, a group of peacocks chilling around spending time together, thunderstorms, blistering daytime heat, and to finish the trip off, an earthquake. My son was in his lab when it happened, and when he saw the apparatus shaking, assumed that perhaps he was responsible, until someone hurriedly evacuated the premises and the buildings were emptied until the quake could pass. I am grateful for life, and safety.

• I am most excited about my friend Guilie’s book launch “The Miracle of Small Things” – she’s a fantastic person and a great writer. I had the honor of her presence here earlier, and  am thrilled to say she’ll be back here tomorrow to celebrate. I’ve read her book and it is a must-read – that’s all I’ll say for now, as I’ll be posting a book review later. May I request you to please come back tomorrow to read her lovely post? Thank you!

• I am thrilled my friend Janaki has started her own business “Nutri Sattva” – she has a range of excellent products she personally makes. I received a box of diabetes-friendly laddus and they were delicious – especially so because no sugar was used – only dates. Please do visit her Facebook page for more details and to order your goodies.

• Grateful to my patient fellow authors of Collecting Smiles – I am taking longer with editing the book than I intended to. Festivals, son’s visit, travel, feeling a little under the weather, all contributed to the delay. I promise to have it up soon.

• So grateful for my son’s visit for a week.

• Spending more time with bloggers than blogging. Grateful for the laughter and hugs!

• A childhood friend calling to say he reads my blog regularly and loves it. Peer pleasure!

Is my list complete? By no means. I could just go on and on, but I do that in my gratitude journal anyway!

As always, I am deeply grateful for everything and everyone I have in my life. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am also quietly enjoying my 100 Days Of Happiness project. So much pleasure.

What is on your gratitude list? How has October been for you?

Do join us for our October Gratitude Circle Bloghop cohosted by Corinne and me, with your own gratitude post and link up. The linky is open for a month. Grab the badge.

“Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.”

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