Monthly Round Up for ‘Gratitude’ Idea

Sastang dandavat at your lotus feet Swamiji.

As the year 2022 bids adieu to all of us in few hours, it is time to reflect and look back. The year 2022 gave a lot of memories to all of us. We were pained for some incidents whereas we became ecstatic for some. We received something while lost something. After taking stock of various events which folded out in the past one year, the first thing which comes to my mind is ‘gratitude’. In fact, all of us can practice the same. We should be grateful for spending one more year on earth. Just remember that millions were not fortunate enough to live the year throughout including my favourite Football legend Pele. I offer my homage to this legendary player and a fantastic human being who ‘defined’ football.

Gratitude is a very powerful weapon indeed. You must have read the story of a man and the lion. Let me just remind you all one more time.

“A slave named Androcles once escaped from his master and fled to the forest.  As he was wandering about there he came upon a Lion lying down moaning and groaning.  At first he turned to flee, but finding that the Lion did not pursue him, he turned back and went up to him.  As he came near, the Lion put out his paw, which was all swollen and bleeding, and Androcles found that a huge thorn had got into it, and was causing all the pain. 

He pulled out the thorn and bound up the paw of the Lion, who was soon able to rise and lick the hand of Androcles like a dog.  Then the Lion took Androcles to his cave, and every day used to bring him meat to live.  But shortly afterwards both Androcles and the Lion were captured, and the slave was sentenced to be thrown to the Lion, after the latter had been kept without food for several days. 

The Emperor and all his Court came to see the spectacle, and Androcles was led out into the middle of the arena.  Soon the Lion was let loose from his den, and rushed bounding and roaring towards his victim.  But as soon as he came near to Androcles he recognized his friend, and fawned upon him, and licked his hands like a friendly dog. 

The Emperor, surprised at this, summoned Androcles to him, who told him the whole story.  Whereupon the slave was pardoned and freed, and the Lion let loose to his native forest.”

The moral of the story: ‘Gratitude’ is very powerful. It was the grateful lion’s gratitude which not only stunned the emperor, but also freed both the slave and the lion.

Our os.me community is also dedicated to this idea and quite a number of posts do reflect the same.

When I First Drove My Car After 2 Years!: Harshita has reasons to celebrate at the same time reasons to offer ‘Gratitude’. She met an accident injuring her and took quite a lot of time for recovery of both physical and mental strength. But she did it in style and in a thumping manner to set example. Not only did she recover, but also pressed the accelerator of her car to gear up her life! You can go through the post to experience the real sense of courage as well as gratitude to the almighty.

Also the same feeling was expressed by our very own super talented yet quintessential Medha Shri ji. She had a liberating feeling as she whirred her car independently on crowded Indian roads. No hubby, no ubby (err. Uber). Kudos to these girls (though Medha ji has two girls of her own!). And yes, I had this feeling last year (with car) which I shared in my yearly round up last year. 

What are you doing this Christmas? II:  Sushree Diya Om ji has very humbly stated her stay in Nairobi as ‘luxury’ when compared to the millions staying in slums, crammed and struggling to have basic amenities of life. She cried as she went out of shower and thanked the almighty for whatever she has been bestowed with. A real heart warming post everyone should read to learn how to be grateful.

Thank You Prabhu: In this post of gratitude, the author Shalini Pandey ji is thankful to Swamiji for his presence in her life. She expressed deep sense of gratitude to Swamiji for putting up so much hard work for our well being. In her own words “I am indebted for whatever you do to make us feel safe, protected and loved. It is a beautiful feeling and I can’t express. I feel home under your feet. Never ever leave me.” Read on to savour the feeling!

6 Lessons I Wish The Twenties Version of Myself Knew: Prahalad Rajkumar, a prolific writer, who pours his heart and does a lot of research to chisel out each of his posts, has listed out six lessons of significant wisdom which if learnt at a very early stage of one’s life would transform the entire lifetime. Curious to know about the nuggets of wisdom, then read on.

My Second Visit to Ashram–Initiation: In this post related to her initiation, the author Pooja narrates her share of anxious moments before she finally got initiated. She was not well and reaching the Ashram itself became challenging. This reminds me one of Swamiji’s statements, “It requires some determination and will power to reach the Ashram. It is not like you made an itinerary for Shimla and on a side trip, visit Shri Badrika Ashram!”. Please read on Pooja’s version to have a first hand feeling of initiation.

Now, words of wisdom from Swamiji: “When you are grateful, an invisible blanket of peace covers you; it makes you glow, makes you happy, makes you strong, makes you
warm.”

With these golden words, let me wind up the monthly round up on ‘Gratitude’ idea. Thank you all for reading. And again wish you a very happy and great new year 2023. May you find more reasons to express gratitude in 2023. May Shri Hari and Swamiji’s blessings be on all of us.

Yours grateful Biswa.