Gratitude Post for 2022

I have a ritual for posting a gratitude post at the end of each year. 2022 is going to be no exception. Gratefulness is a practice that helps us see the brighter side of life. Gratitude helps to convert our mindset from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset. Ever since I started practicing gratefulness, I have observed a paradigm shift in my perspective toward life. I feel more content and calmer with this practice. Every year, I create a list of goals that I wish to achieve in that particular year. Often the goals are as simple as calling up school friends, or watering my indoor plants. I feel grateful and proud, when I see at the end of the year that I have achieved most of the goals. If you remember my post on push and pull goals, where I wrote about how to write achievable resolutions, then you would know that I always try to create pull goal. In 2022, I have once again been able to achieve almost 80% of my goals. One of my goals was to meet up with friends every month. I am surprised that just by writing down that simple goal, I became so much more extrovert and took out time to meet so many friends who live nearby and also far away. Without writing anymore, let me list down the things am grateful for in 2022.

• My Yoga Practice: I have changed my life with yoga. I wonder why I hadn’t fallen in love with yoga earlier. One of the blessings of the pandemic was yoga. While being locked at home, I found solace in yoga and now I cannot think of my life without yoga. I am immensely grateful to all the yoga gurus who teach Free Yoga on YouTube. I express my immense gratitude to my virtual yoga goddess Adrienne Mishler (I just looooooove this woman). I am also immensely grateful to other yoga Gurus Kassandra, Sara Beth, Yogi in Melbourne, and my yoga mentors Aishwarya and Chaitanya.
• My Dietician: I was obese. In January 2022, I got covid and due to obesity, my healing became a challenge. My doctor got worried and suggested that I should lose weight immediately or else it could cause serious health complications. I have always suffered from slow metabolism and losing weight is not easy for me. Thankfully, I got in touch with a compassionate dietician who helped me lose weight in a healthy way. I am slightly disappointed for re-gaining some of the weight back. However, I am hopeful that in 2023, I would be able to stay leaner than before.
• The Walking Track in my Society: I am so thankful to the Universe that even in a congested city like Mumbai, I live in a society that is spacious and full of greenery. My society is like a small oasis where we have a beautiful walking/jogging track full of greenery. The tall trees provide good shadow and therefore walking feels never tiring. While walking, I can observe nice plants, tall green trees, colorful flowers, magnificent butterflies, squirrels, and exquisite birds like humming birds and parrots.
• My Walking Friends: I am grateful to have a few friends who accompany me during the walks. I walk twice a day, morning and evening. Both the times, there are a few friends who join me and keep me motivated. I try to walk 10K steps a day. Once we finish our walks, we sit down and chat. Some days, we go for coffee at the nearest Chayoos.
• WFH: One of the blessings of the pandemic has been the opportunity to work from home. I am so happy and grateful that I do not need to travel to office amidst horrible Mumbai traffic anymore. I save almost 3-4 hours each day on travel. It goes without saying that I also save money and effort. I am also grateful for the new job opportunity that I accepted this year. I am learning so many new things in this position that I am thrilled beyond words.
• Colleagues: I am blessed to have teammates who are extremely supportive. I am learning so much everyday from them.
• Friends: In January, when I fell prey to covid, my friends went out of their ways to help me cope. They provided food, medicines, and even cash when I was in quarantine. Throughout the year, my friends were my biggest support. We had plenty of girls night outs, birthday parties, valentines party, and enjoyed the festivals together. I partied almost every month (I had written in my yearly wish-list and happy to see it getting manifested)
• My House helps: One reason why I love living in India is the access to domestic helps. They are our true saviors. The girl who comes to me is so sweet. I enjoy drinking a cup of tea with her every morning listening to Bollywood music. I really look forward to this ritual.
• Trips: In 2022, I went on three trips. The first one was a Mommy kiddie trip to Alibag. The second was a family vacation to Kashmir and the last one was a solo trip to my hometown Kolkata. In KOlkata, I relaxed the way I have not relaxed in the longest time. I also met quite a few friends whom I have not met in a long time. It was such a lovely winter trip, loved every second of it.
• Social Media Detox: I am grateful to myself for having the determination to stay off social media since March. Initially, I was skeptical that I wouldn’t sustain a day without posting some crap on social media but I survived. I am so proud of myself for being able to do this. I have uninstalled all social media apps (excluding WhatsApp) from my phone. I have stopped using social media for personal gratification and validation. I only use it to give and get information.
• Party: I was never a party animal. Being an introvert, I avoided parties. However, in 2022, I saw a change in myself when I willingly wanted to meet more people. Perhaps, the pandemic brought this change in me. I have realised the value of social bonding. I have partied more this year than in my entire life. I am grateful to have friends and cousins who make my social life so beautiful.
• Spiritual Awakening: In 2022, I have not read a single fiction. All the 12 books that I read are non-fiction and mostly spiritual. I read a lot about Buddhism. I read books by Dalai Lama, Thich Naht Hanh, and Daiseku Ikeda. I absolutely loved reading the series Dala Lama’s Cat. Being a fan of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, I loved the memoir written by his son Garcia Rodrigo. I also read quite a few books on soul connections. I truly believe that with each day, I am becoming more accepting and less judgmental. Thanks to all these books that encourage me to think beyond the conventional.

Now, tell me how was your 2022? What are the things that you are grateful for in 2022? Before you go, please leave a comment and check out some images from my yearbook.

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