Just Counting

Counting

The humdrum of daily routine and the susceptibility of the weak human mind to negative emotions often makes us forget how blessed we really are.  I refuse to overlook my blessings any more.

My husband:  Seven years has taught me that this is the most honest (even if brutally so) man I have ever and will ever come across in my life.  A man with solid goals and dreams and whose goals and dreams do not blind him to life beyond.  A man with so many talents that sometimes I wonder if Lord Brahma had any left in his kitty after he created this one.  I waited thirty years for this fellow, many a times cursing him for not coming into my life sooner, but the wait has been totally justified.  All I can do is hum with Maria as she sings "Somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good".

My daughter:  Today, as I lay on the bed, nursing a headache, this little five year old comes to me with a pain balm offering to massage my head. Which head-ache has a chance over her tiny fingers? This is the most gentle, sweet, intelligent, good-natured, cheerful, beautiful little jumping jack clut I have known.  I can only pray that God gives me the courage to be the mom she truly deserves.

My dad and grand mom:  The former in his late sixties and the latter early eighties.  Every aspect of senility cropping up.  Yet, they breathe for me.  They would much rather tolerate a degenerating spine or palpitating heart on themselves than hear of a paper cut in my finger.  I feel sorry that my mother is not around to be part of them. I hope God gives me the strength to be for them when they need me.

My in-laws: My father-in-law, in his mid sixties is thirty in spirit.  A handsome, incredibly neat, intelligent and funny person, who is as much at home in his easy chair reading Ananda Vikatan, as in the top of the corporate ladder where he rightfully belongs.  My mother-in-law, in her early sixties, is actually around six years old in spirit and her grand daughter's best friend.  Believe it or not, she is a queen of the stock market and Ambani and such like could take a tip or two from her about management. From the moment she wakes up at 4 in the morning until she gets to bed around 10, this woman hoards all the energy in the world for herself, scouring the stock market, painting, cleaning, socializing and running the show with aplomb. She calls herself "uneducated", but if she be uneducated, the rest of us are somewhere among the ocean scum.

My job: How many women have a job they like, are good at, can work at their pace and time, from home, AND get paid for it?  I have been with MMI for nine years now, have ridden the see-saw with the company that one year of downslide gets me down and one little proposal funded leaves me with a glow that rivals the aurora.  Despite my cribs during deadlines that I want to quit, I don't want to, and I hope MMI and I grow old together through good times and bad.

My finances.  I have a job that pays for the future, the husband has a job that pays for the present, we have a life devoid of excess wants, a set of parents on both sides that are not financially dependent on us and a child who can take a "no" for the expensive Dora kitchen set without much ado.  Is there anything more I can ask for?

My home:  I have a comfortable house, ground floor with a garden (that is right now languishing because I writing this post instead of watering it), tastefully done living room (with gorgeous windows, if I may add), a clean bathroom, a cool bedroom, and a kitchen, which although I don't particularly like working in, serves its purpose admirably.  My home makes me take for granted what millions lack out there.

My relatives: My sister-in-law, a beautiful, brilliant lady with infectious enthusiasm.  I wonder if she can rub off some of it on me the next time she comes here. In return I will babysit her two darlings.

My skills:  I write well, both on and off my job, have a mellifluous voice and intelligence to pick up any new skill with ease.  Just how unfair is it to waste the talent on unwanted thoughts?

My friends: My friends who are willing to give me the ear no matter how much I drivel, and not judge me for it. 

Everyday should be a thanksgiving for me, and I hope I will always remember to count my blessings before I ponder about negative things that do not make any sense whatsoever.

Edited to add: My maid Vijaya.  The lady does not sweep under the couch and table, clothes sometimes have stains AFTER she washes them and so on.  But when I return home on a Sunday evening after a weekend of revelry at the parents' houses, I find that she has thoughtfully washed the kid's school shoes and washed and pressed her uniform, so that I don't panic on Sunday evening for school next day.  Sometimes I wonder why I don't fire Vijaya for her shoddy ways. THIS is why.