Gratitude diaries 32

When I look back through these gratitude diaries, I see that my life seems to have been more about receiving. Through friends and family, I have received love, affection, moral support and strength. The episodes when I have been on the giving end, are far fewer. One could say that gratitude is warranted when receiving help, not while giving it. But even giving help serves an important function. It makes you stop thinking of yourself and put other matters or persons at the centre of your existence. By diverting your mind from your troubles, it helps to make them easier to bear. And giving help is not always easy for shy, inward-looking people like me, any more than receiving help is. Maybe that's why, I feel grateful to the small number of people who gave me the chance to help them, either by reaching out to me or just accepting my support when I offered it. I remember when I was in my second year at IIM A, I tried to help the first year girls living in my dorm, especially the two who were doing badly at academics. I did my best to talk them through their blues, and encourage them to hang on, to carry on, the way my seniors had done with me. The need to talk to them helped me often, to break out of my own funk, by reminding myself that others needed me. I remember the girl in one of my jobs, who was going through marital problems and reached out to me for support. Talking to me helped her deal with the stress and I was more than happy to lend her a sympathetic ear. Similarly, I remember one of the girls from Upendra sir's classes, who was going through some family and personal issues, who I tried to support by talking her through her problems. I don't known whether my emotional/moral support achieved any concrete ends in helping them resolve the problems but I know from experience that sometimes just knowing that someone cares enough to listen, is enough to help you make a start to dealing with your problems. So thank you, facchis, the colleague from work, the classmate from Upendra's and any other people I may have missed out. I am grateful that you let me help you.