Gratitude on Late Blooms

100,000 Reads for "Late Blooms"

Fri, 15 Jun 2018 00:00:00 +0000

I’d like to think of this blogging venture as the “little blog that grew” in its own time. I loved my brother’s blog and his posts. It was on a whim that I wrote my first blog post. This happened after a visit to Niagara Falls where I visited the Butterfly Conservatory. I took many photos and made up a post called “Metamorphosis.” I shared this post with my brother and told him to link the two - mine and his. Even then, I wasn’t really sure what I was asking him to do. He immediately hosted me on his blog under the name I had chosen - Late Blooms. The date was April 22, 2012. This was how it all began.

Feeling Grateful

Tue, 14 Nov 2017 00:00:00 +0000

I have lots to be grateful for each day. This post is a special one to express my gratitude to my brother, Ronald Janki, for updating Late Blooms for me. I received a text from him a few days ago saying that he had been doing some “big changes” on the site and for me to take a look. Well, I was pleasantly surprised. We hadn’t had any discussion about this which makes it especially meaningful to me. The changes are awesome! From the very beginning of my blogging adventure, he’s the one who has enabled, encouraged, and promoted this site. This adventure has brought much joy and meaning to my days and I am truly thankful. “God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say ’thank you?” (William Arthur Ward)My own experience of being grateful in life has taught me that the more grateful I am, the more good comes to me. I’ve noticed that people who do nice things for others are often genuinely caring and kind people whose hearts are in the right place. They are not seeking anything for themselves. Their own joy comes from making others happy and promoting their well-being. This is certainly the case with my brother. “At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” (Albert Schweitzer)

Gratefulness

Mon, 11 Apr 2016 00:00:00 +0000

[caption id=“attachment_2970” align=“aligncenter” width=“600”] In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.
Brother David Steindl-Rast[/caption]

From the time we are infants, along with Mummy and Daddy, Yes and No, we are taught to say “Thank You.” Whatever the language spoken, country of origin, religious or ethnic background, or other factors of birth, the human species knows about gratefulness. We may not have been born grateful but we are certainly taught to be grateful by our parents, caregivers, and the larger society. There are many virtues, all of which are important, but according to Cicero: “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.” Cicero, ‘Pro Plancio,’ 54 B.C. Roman author, orator, & politician (106 BC - 43 BC) Whether we agree or disagree with Cicero, we know just how important gratitude is to oil the wheels of positive social relations. We stand a better chance at making ourselves happy and bringing happiness to other people if we are grateful.

Thanksgiving Time!

Sat, 11 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000

It doesn’t seem so long ago that I wrote the post “Summer’s Gone” and here I am writing about Thanksgiving. In Canada, this long holiday weekend falls in October. Fall is definitely here in all its beauty and the harvest has been reaped. The weather is cooler now and the colors have changed. Time does go by!

It’s fun to pick up the leaves and admire their colors. The ones I’m holding here are from the St. Martin’s church yard where I had stopped to take some pictures. My father died in October 2000 and as the date approaches, I’m thinking of him. He wrote a poem called “Autumn Leaves” which I shared in its entirety in another post. In that poem, he was wondering when the leaves show their true colors. The first verse talks about Spring, and in the second, he’s wondering whether it’s in the Fall: