I still can’t believe May is over. This month just breezed through with the thunderstorms and showers that hit us recently. The temperature has dipped and it feels like our good old Bangalore once again.
This month I read Sanch’s post on The Gratitude Myth and her thoughts stayed with me longer that many other posts I read around the same time. She had an interesting perspective on how people start feeling guilty about not being grateful for what they have and others don’t. I have been writing my gratitude lists for over a year now and it has become a part of my life. Gratitude helps me focus on little things that make me happy but I also let myself feel sad when I don’t get what I want. I believe it’s important to be grateful yet stay hungry in life.
May was good and here are a few things, I am grateful for:
10 years of togetherness: You may have read our story or this post on the day we completed a decade so this had to be first on the list. VT is a friend first and we share zillion things. Coming home after a tough day, I know I can talk about my frustrations and share my successes. It feels comforting to know that the day I put my feet up, another pair will join and we will delegate chores or just leave them as is. I am grateful for love.
Exploring restaurants: This month we ate out more than usual and discovered a couple of new places. While it’s not so healthy, I like having to do nothing some days. Eating out meant I did not even have to think of setting the table. I am grateful that this month was easy on cooking. I am grateful for options.
Friends: Friends provide the right balance in life. This month I met my close ones and we went out, shopped, walked together and clicked pictures. It was fun and I am going to do that more often. I am grateful for this family of friends I have.
Health: For most of the month, my back behaved well and I was able to attend my Yoga classes. Fitbit challenges have kept me going. It is fun to compete and gathering steps to win. I haven’t been able to win much but it pushes me to take that one more step forward towards a healthy self. I am grateful for my Fitbit. And yes, their customer service is awesome. They replaced my damaged device without an additional cost and I am a proud owner of a new one now 🙂
A Tweet-up: I attended my first tweet-up this month. Even more exciting was the fact that this was on a metro and what a ride it was. I met many folks who I had just interacted over twitter and it was a fun Sunday. The metro ride was quick and I loved how quickly we travelled from east to west of the city. I am grateful to this new bunch of friends for a great company and a fabulous new experience.
So, this month was overall a good one with its own share of manageable distractions. I want to focus on my writing skills, find more time to read books and yes, buy more plants for my balcony garden. This is what I mean about staying hungry.
How was May for you? What is that one thing you are grateful for that would like to share with me?
Linking this post to Vidya’s Gratitude Circle Blog hop for May 2016. Also linking this up to ‘The Month that was’ link up.
happiness and food 
Belated happy anniversary, we celebrated our 28th anniversary on 28th April this year 🙂 Eating out is fun, love going to new places and exploring their cuisine. Friends make life complete and happy 🙂 Glad to see your gratitude list, best wishes.
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You know I am such a fan of your effortless gratitude posts .. they seem so real and heartfelt and genuine.
And I am so glad that Sanch also shares my views on expressing gratitude or the lack of it..
I have these gratitude posts , unfinished and heading nowhere .. stacked away in my drafts folder.
I do feel guilty of not feeling happy enough or thankful enough for ‘life’s little joys’ ..
but till I do .. atleast I get to read you and for that am so thankful to the blogging world..
Congratulations on completing a decade of love.. now I know the source of the happiness that seeps into your writing.. true love is a blessed thing 🙂
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What a fun month! In my case I’ve had two exams, two hangout parties, a whole week of house cleaning plus cooking and a tiny bit of idling about. Oh and happiness from my exam results too. A busy month, but one which I’m truly grateful for! 🙂
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May was full of flowers and our first hot weather. I am grateful for the final arrival of spring. At last! Congrats on your 10 years together. I am about ready to celebrate my 42nd. Those years will pass quickly!
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Belated happy anniversary. I think I should do this some day, there are always so many things to be glad about
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May was an eventful holiday. Meeting some old friends, putting feet up on the balcony, tasting new Indian wines, and chilling out, mostly.
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Happy to see so many good memories in here. And I do believe that chronicling the good memories is a wonderful idea… an online diary of good times to look back on at the end of the year.
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Being with someone for ten years and enjoying every part of it is something wonderful..So happy for you..S and I as well celebrate 10 years of togetherness this year ..3rd July will be 10 years since we got together.. So, I know how wonderful you must have felt..
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Woho that’s an awesome month… hoping June is going to be as much fun for u…
I have been extensively travelling… so the months ahead are going to be similar for me
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An anniversary deserves a month long of celebrations, no? So eating out is certainly a part of that. I’m so glad you had a great month, Parul.
I’m curious about who the little cutie is in the picture. A friend’s daughter? And also want to know what’s in those dishes. The subject of another post, perhaps! 😉
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Yes, my friend’s little girl. That little cutie is my one and only godchild and she has made many appearances on this blog. That food was biryani and chicken lollipop 🙂 A colleague at work got all that and I just ate 😀
Thanks Corinne 🙂
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She’s sweet. How did I miss her before? Ah Hyderabadi specials – hence they looked good! 😉
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Congratulations on completing 10 years 🙂 This is such a nice gratitude post! Inspiring me to write one as well 🙂 I am
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I love the way you compile your gratitude posts – pithy and unembellished. How do you manage to do that? I get so overwhelmed with what to write that I get quite lost. And then I feel that what’s so special that I have to be ‘grateful’ and abandon my post. Perhaps I will give it a try again today.
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Thank you so much! Just write what you feel and it will turn out well 🙂
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Looks like you are quite in celebration mood 🙂 May you have many more joyful occasions to celebrate.
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Lovely things to be grateful for this month! I am grateful to have you keeping me accountable with my exercise for most of May 🙂
Thanks for linking up!
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A beautiful and inspiring list, Parul. I love how focused you are! Gratitude definitely changes our perspective on things. I have a lot of people mentioning that they just don’t feel like being grateful sometimes… probably because of what they’re going through at the time – but eventually I think it catches up. 🙂 Thank you for joining the Gratitude Circle bloghop! Hope to see you there again – and yes, like May, June is flying by! Linky will be live on June 30! 🙂
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