I begin each day with gratitude when I light my lamp in the morning, just before I have the coffee and breakfast going.
Today, I am grateful for these three things.
Grateful that living healthy is a joyful journey
This morning, as I cleaned the curry leaves after stripping them from the stalks, I was filled with gratitude to my mom and grandmother for making health such an enjoyable and tasty experience. I grew up in a joint family household that believed in the joy of cooking from scratch, involving the entire family. With children around, it became natural to praise every vegetable, fruit, and cooking ingredient, listing its benefits to encourage us to eat mindfully and happily.
In fact, delicious home remedies for most ailments came from the kitchen — so much so, that we would imagine tummy aches and pains just because we wanted the yummy “medicine”.
I am grateful that I was able to teach my son these things. I am grateful that I am able to cook these things; that I enjoy the process of cooking and am able to also share them with my neighbors. And oh, grateful that everyone loves my cooking!
Grateful for diabetes
I am grateful that, because of diabetes, I have made healthy eating, a healthy lifestyle, and exercise non-negotiables in my life. My motivation comes from my family and friends and often, random strangers. I am grateful that I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at 50 because I am now able to afford the medication that helps me manage diabetes, as well as various foods such as nuts and fruits that are sometimes expensive.
Grateful for love
I am grateful for long conversations with my son. Today, he insisted on giving me the synopsis for three episodes of a show he thought I would enjoy — never mind the spoilers. But the truly joyful thing was listening to his enthusiastic voice in my ear as I felt my cup runneth over, filled with love, as I imagined his face and the expressions I love so much. We ended the call with affectionate stuff and a threat from him to renew my Netflix, or else.
Grateful for my neighbor and friend, who, when she makes something I like, brings over a steaming bowl or plate of the item and gives it to me with a kiss, a hug, and a smile and calls me affectionate names. No, I will NOT tell you what those names are 😉 Today, she brought me a plate of the vadas I love.
Grateful for friends who send me GIFs of Ian Somerhalder aka Damon Salvatore to cheer me up. Yep. Love the guy. All that remains is for someone to send me some Damon Salvatore merch.
(Source)
Cute, no? He’s a good person, too!
A life without gratitude is an empty, hollow, sad, life. — Vidya Sury (right?!!)
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3 comments
I absolutely love number one. I wish I grew up with that but my mom surely did her best to teach me to cook so I would not starve and be able to prep cooking before she got home from work to get the meal started. lol. It was always a scramble to get breakfast as we both had to be out of the house early, and lunch was whatever school served me, and leftovers from dinner for her. So dinnertime had to be the “real meal” of the day.
Thank you for these excellent reminders to choose gratitude. Your stories about the importance of choosing a healthy lifestyle are inspiring. We love to grow our own vegetables in our backyard and care for them with our kids!
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Wonderful insights here and truly needed the reminder. Being grateful is a choice and the results of choosing to be grateful, is happiness and joy. My dad passed away several years ago after a long battle with kidney disease and ultimately cancer. This was one of the hardest times of my life, but there came a time, when I started searching for things to be grateful for (the time I did have with my dad, for my kids being able to play and know him, the unity in our family that resulted from his illness, and so much more). When my focus changed to being grateful for these things, it was amazing the shift in my mood/happiness. So much truth to what you are saying, Ss thanks again for the reminder that choosing to be grateful (for the good and sometimes the bad) is overall a more healthy and happier approach.