the grateful mind

i feel compelled to apologise for the delay in posting this blog. nothing i say is going to make much sense to all of you wonderful people who keep reading my postings; rather it may sound like lame excuses. so i am going to take the easy way out and just say sorry...

my holiday was a great success story; meaning i am grateful that the flights were on time, my luggages didnt get lost, all of us got to and from the destinations in one piece and in good health, my bags were not opened by the Australian customs and hence avoiding further delays whatsoever. I am also very grateful that the weather in Perth was very accommodating, good friends to take us places and extremely friendly people making our stay a memorable one.

my one week in Perth however taught me many other things that i have to be grateful about and that is my own land, Malaysia. it is so true that one can appreciate one's own land only when there is a comparison and i kept comparing Perth to Kuala Lumpur at every opportunity and the more i compared, the more grateful i became that i live where i do, the bounty that our land has to offer and the rich culture and heritage of our land kept surfacing in my mind more and more.

as usual it wasnt the big things that bothered me but the little things like how the Aussies start drinking alcohol from 10 in the morning, how the shops close at 5 in the evening, how nothing works in the weekends, how kids and teenagers dress weird but think they look cool, how porn and sex is so freely available, how the exchange rate to our currency is absolutely ridiculous. (unfortunately it is of no fault of theirs) when i went to my cousin's house there i kept remembering my own home and how my trustworthy indonesian'kakak' keeps my house spotlessly clean and has a warm meal waiting for us at any time we require one. my cousin unfortunately has to rely on a part time lady who comes once a week and charges a bomb.


having said that, i have to add that i am grateful that i made that trip because Perth has so much to teach us too. the way they take conservation and going green so seriously made me take a step back and seriously re think the way i have been dealing with recycling and mother earth. Australia takes a serious view on landfills and land mines and goes all out in its effort to combat global warming. their views on plastics, not abusing mother earth, their town planning are all very commendable. the city is also absolutely clean and the public toilets a delight to any tourist. the public transport efficient and the people of the land courteous and polite.

like every other thing on this earth, we have our pluses and our minuses. lets be grateful for the pluses and doubly gratified for being able to see the minuses so that we can be grateful for the pluses!

My swamiji always says; to overcome the mind's characteristic delusions, treat it in the factory of devotion and gratefulness through reading, through utterances, through favourable associations, through hope, through clarity and through optimism.

i for one am grateful for my association with my Gurudev, grateful for the wonderful family i am born into and the beautiful family i have gone into, grateful for all the excellent people out there who have made such an impact on my life and love me for who i am, grateful for all the people who have crossed my path and taught me life's important lessons, grateful for the shopping malls that go on being open till i tire of them, grateful for my indonesian kakak who makes my life easier, grateful for my trusty four wheels that takes me places, grateful for the air i breathe and most importantly grateful to be alive, in good health, and being able to smile every morning to yet another cheery day. May i continue to be grateful for all that comes to me and may i always remember that the one who allows the storms into my life also brings in the rainbows.

Take a moment today and list down ten things you are grateful for. I bet once you start listing them, the list would be endless. We have plenty to be grateful for; believe me!