Today was a fairly quiet day. I was hoping to have some extended sleep, and I did. I’m grateful for the moments of quietude and peace that I aim to catch every Sunday. Since my time in England I’ve always noticed this period of stillness on a Sunday afternoon. Between 2 and 4 p.m. the trade was gradually slowing down, and between 4 and 6 p.m. life would move to pubs and restaurants. People were bidding farewell to their weekend with a cup of cappuccino, a pint of Lager, or a glass of wine.
So I, too, try to spend these four hours of a Sunday afternoon noticing how life’s waters calm and go still, so you can actually sip the time by a minute. And I’m always grateful for it.
On the Day of National Unity our gratitude goes to the patriotic spirit of the 17th century Russian citizens. A chain of ill-thought events following the death of Boris Godunov led to the Moscow throne being seized by the Polish party. For the first time since the end of the Mongol yoke Russian sovereignty as the state was under threat. The people of Russia eventually abandoned their feuds, and all social classes united for one cause.
The icon of Our Lady of Kazan that was miraculously found in 1570s by the future Patriarch Hermogen (who was later imprisoned by the Poles in Moscow for his appeals to people and starved to death) played a pivotal role in protecting the Russian forces. It was then used again in 1812, during Napoleonic invasion; and it is widely believed that a helicopter with this icon on board flew around Moscow in November-December 1941, during the Moscow Battle. However, it was also thought to have been lost; yet this year, Patriarch Kirill announced that the icon was found again.
Our unity as a nation has been tested in 1990s, but since Vladimir Putin came to power the patriotic spirit has been growing. It received a significant kick in 2022, reviving the national pride and the desire to serve one’s Land. And so we are thankful to be Russian, to live in Russia and to work to make it great.
Today, my gratitude goes to Nature. Its wisdom is such that it always reminds us that all periods of our life are intrinsically interconnected. The seeds of maturity and old age are sown in our younger years. Likewise, the poplar fluff in May-June is a foreboding of winter blizzard. And a pumpkin that shines brightly amidst November dirt and gloom obviously epitomises the sun.
The sun is always here, there, and everywhere. We only need to learn to see it behind the clouds.
Today I’m grateful to my positive thinking. I’m trying to be an informed optimist, which entails a good understanding of life and people. My positive mood is generated by my awareness that we accumulate more of what we focus on. If I focus on bad things, I make them worse.
It doesn’t mean, on the other hand, that I should ignore bad things in my life. Yet I cannot merely erase them; I have to make out why they happen in the first place, so I can change and improve them.
Looking at today’s picture, I’m thinking about the times when things were rough. I would lock myself up in a cosy room of my own. Doing so always allowed me to distance from the events and to choose the best – positive – outcome. And I’m grateful to myself and the powers-that-be for guiding me through…
I’m starting another challenge here. I see that you liked Christmas Tree challenge I had in December last year. So now I’m going to take you for a pumpkin ride!
November starts with the Irish Samhain and the European All Hallows’ Eve and culminates in American Thanksgiving. In all festivals, a pumpkin occupies a central part as an epitome of harvest and the sun. And it is the sun that we need in many corners of our world in November. Hence I decided to bring it to you this month.
Source: Pinterest
I also want to dedicate this month to a kind of Thanksgiving. I’m sure you’ve heard about a gratitude diary; but to practise writing it makes a huge difference in life. So, I’m going to give thanks to all things great and small in my life and in the life of humankind, on the whole. I don’t expect you to agree with all things I’m grateful for. However, I hope you will attempt to see things from my perspective and, who knows, maybe you’ll share my gratitude. And if you choose, please use comments to share what you are grateful for.
To start, today I’m thankful for my resourcefulness that helped me to pull through a rather difficult October. I took part in several important events, including a TV program and a professional conference. At the same time, I had to attend on my cats who were poorly. And I had very little rest, yet I was able to stay calm and organise things.
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