Savoring each moment #Gratitude

Did you look forward to the Gratitude Circle blog hop as much as I did? I was a little sad about skipping it in April, but everyone was busy with the A to Z Challenge and I didn’t want to add this. Although, nothing difficult about writing a gratitude list, eh?

I did write one, though: a letter to my Mom, thanking her on Mother’s Day.

April and May, so far, have been eventful months on various fronts. Lots of ups and downs. I’ve tried to take the “downs” in my stride and focus on the “ups” – it is what makes the good things that much more precious, don’t you think?

And so, here are some of the “ups” I am grateful for, over the past few weeks and I’ve had plenty to list in my gratitude journal on a daily basis.

• My son’s home for his summer vacation. He is doing his summer internship here. No words can express my happiness and gratitude for this. Most of his classmates are doing theirs on campus and we consider ourselves very lucky that he was accepted by a wonderful guide here. This means I get to have him at home for a whole two months. So I hold my breath with each passing day, but I also savor each moment of his presence. The joy is just indescribable.
• When I visited the IISc. campus, I met an old friend. We were rushing to an appointment and I told her I’d call her, but she grabbed my hand and said “Okay, but I have to tell you this – I just love your blog”. I am glad she did not see the tears threatening to fall – I felt so touched. Who knew? What a sweet thing to say! I feel grateful. Sometimes when I wonder about who might be reading what I write, all I have to do is look at my mailbox and read the lovely emails readers send. Most of them are non-bloggers and people who do not spend much time online, yet they chose to subscribe to this blog and read. Yes, grateful, indeed!
• In April, I had a fabulous 2-day trip to Shanghai, China, as part of Johnson & Johnson’s ABC Circle (Asia Baby Care Circle). It was exciting and exhausting I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Detailed report coming soon, so please stay tuned! I am grateful for the opportunity.
• I normally don’t go to the movies, but The Jungle Book was just too tempting. Just as I was feeling stingy over spending so much on the movie tickets, I got an email telling me that my debit card entitled me to 50 per cent off. What a Yay! moment! Vidur and I absolutely enjoyed it, 3D glasses and all.
• During the past few weeks, I’ve enjoyed meeting a lot of friends offline and catching up and it has been glorious. Time away from the screen is just so peaceful and does wonders for stress-relief. I also attended a couple of blogger meets that were great fun!
• Then I got to spend time with some lovely kids. I didn’t take pictures because they weren’t comfortable with that. But let me share something we did together. A little activity you might enjoy, too!

Making a gratitude tree

You need:

• Cardboard to cut out the shape of a tree trunk
• Color paper from which to cut out hearts/leaves/shape of your choice. I prefer hearts. Use them to write what you’re grateful for.
• A pair of scissors
• Glue
• Marker pens/sketch pens/sharpies

Cut the tree trunk – you can opt only for the main trunk and fill the top with leaves/hearts or add the branches. Keep it simple and easy:

What size, you might wonder. Any size.

Thank you babygizmo.com

It can be a greeting card.

Thank you luntiks.com

Or it can be a large cutout that you might want to place by your window, on a side table, on your wall like a decal – where you can look at it often. I know someone put theirs in their garden and it looks so pretty!

Thank you themamabirds.com

Too lazy to cut out shapes and glue them? Just grab a huge sheet of paper and a bunch of sketch pens and get going! Make lots of hearts and have people fill them in – with words or colors!

Best thing is, it makes a fun group activity for all ages and is so easy. And you can keep adding to the tree, too!

Your leftover hearts can make a pretty card like this:

Would you make a Gratitude tree? Keep it, gift it!

What are you grateful for today?

P.S. See the featured image at the top? I was walking along a pathway that had these trees at intervals. One of my favorite shots!

Please join me in The May Gratitude Circle blog hop. Write your post, add the badge below and link up!