The photos of three flowers above, taken yesterday in our garden, showed three stages of opening! They represent the journey from being a bud to a flower!
This became an imagery to me as I welcome 2026!
Transition from 2025 to 2026 is a journey!
From memories of 2025 to the unknown of the 2026!
The flowers above change to be more open each day! Its growth is incremental till it is ready to fade away.
The experiences of 2025 influence the growth process to feel ready for the diverse encounters of 2026.
What can be this growth process in our lives?
I have three thoughts that engage me.
The growth is in awareness of gratefulness. Both Anna and I are recovering from chest infection. Both of us took a while to respond to the treatment protocol we followed under the guidance of a pulmonologist. From disturbed nights with wheeze and bouts of Clough, when we feel the signs of recovery, what creates within us is a sense of gratefulness. It is when we grow in gratefulness we revere the gift of healing. This sense of gratefulness enlarges our understanding about how much we receive each day to stay well and whole! Gratefulness for all that we are given!
Another growth experience is in the realm of living responsibly! Each day in life is an opportunity to live thoughtfully towards others. It is only as much as others are also well, we can experience our wellness fully. A mother who nurses her baby feels well, when her baby is well fed and can sleep for a while before the next feed. The mother's feeling of wellness emerges from the wellness she can offer to her baby. I wish I can grow to have such attitude of finding my wellness in seeing others made well !
A third growth process is towards fostering peace as the ambience of all relationships. I find my skills elementary in this domain. It is only when one can receive others as they are, we feel freed from our impressions or biases. When personal gain dominates and serving the other recedes to the background, the ambience in relationships is utilitarian. The offer of goodwill of kindness in all situations creates the ambience of peace. We affirm the other person when we relate with regards and respect.
I wish that these three growth experiences would become more experiential in 2026- gratefulness, thoughtfulness and peacefulness !
The manner in which we conduct ourselves can bring growth experience to others as well!
The bud becomes a flower to offer itself others!
Our life grows to become an offering for the wellness of others.
While late night partying is the usual way to usher in the new year, I came across a group of women in our village who decided to visit senior citizens living alone with food packets on the new year eve!
One can be indulgent in self gratification or find fulfilment in helping others to feel joyful!
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
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