May 2023
Being grateful for all that silently works in our lives and ignoring what does not, will reverse our default state of ignoring what works and resisting what does not, says Suma Varughese
A couple of nights ago, I was at my wit’s end, having suffered through three sleepless nights in a row. I curate a close-knit writing group called Zen Pens, where I asked for prescriptions for a good night’s sleep. Suggestions poured in. I implemented a couple and actually managed to catch a few winks. The next day, I thanked the members who had made those particular suggestions and said that the sleep had felt like deliverance. One member then remarked that she would never again take her night’s sleep for granted, now that she knew how precious it was to one deprived of it.
All of us enjoy hundreds of blessings without giving a thought to them, until we meet someone who does not have it. Remember that poignant tale of the boy who cried because he had no shoes until he met someone who had no feet? Every day, we meet someone whose missing feet put our missing shoes into perspective. Yesterday, I heard of a friend having had her intestines and liver operated on for cancer and sent up a silent prayer of gratitude that I only had an allergic cold to complain about, even if it deprived me of sleep. In our country, we are forcibly reminded of our blessings each time we travel by road. At traffic signals, what a mélange of humanity we meet! Malnourished women holding up tiny babies to extract money from us; people without limbs, with twisted torsos or lips; and street children with scanty clothes, bare bellies, and running noses. Impossible not to notice all that we have and ignore. Truly, we have been given in abundance. Can you read this article? How much luckier are you than the millions of our unlettered? Or our blind? Can you walk? Can you talk? Can you sit?
Can you breathe? Can you eat? Can you sleep? All these are great blessings.
My uncle used to live in the same building that we did. One day, his whole family, with the exception of his son, Suka, came down with severe food poisoning after attending a wedding the previous night. Aunty was sent to one hospital, and their daughter-in law and her daughter, to another. Uncle alone was sufficiently stable to stay home. And yet he was his cheerful self. “God is with us,” he asserted staunchly, “because Suku did not go to the wedding and, therefore, can look after all of us.” In this mountain of woes, my uncle was able to search for and find the straw of good news. I was in awe!
Suma Varughese is a thinker, writer, and former Editor-in-Chief of Life Positive. She also holds writer’s workshops. Write to her at sumavarughese@hotmail.com.
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