I’ve been feeling that living in Kathmandu can be quite challenging with its over-crowding, dust and pollution, homeless population and lack of organization.  Many people have small shops selling similar products, at similar prices, all trying to make ends meet.  I often wonder about the shop owner’s blank stares as many breathe in the roadside dust and focus on their mobiles waiting for customers.  What would I see if I looked within?   How many of us mindlessly go through our days on auto pilot, waking up, going to work, coming home, eating dinner, watching television or focusing on our computers, going to sleep and starting all over again?  Where is the meaning in this?  Do we appreciate how fleeting life can be so that we really connect with our family and friends no matter where they are living, telling them how much we appreciate them being in our lives?  Or is it more about “liking” a facebook post and writing a comment or posting an article for others to see?  What are we losing?

I know that now I need to find things that will “feed” my soul.  I know that I need to be aware of and conscious of finding gratitude on an everyday basis in the little things in order to keep me going.  William Arthur Ward one of America's most quoted writers of inspirational maxims said “Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” 

On a recent Saturday morning as I got into an overcrowded micro a young man started talking to me and then paid my fare.  I thought, “isn’t this a wonderful way to begin my day and how do I take this in to fully appreciate the effort?” I went on to meet a friend living with disability whose mother facing health problems, and whose father is deceased, is having problems paying for his brother and sister’s monthly tuition.  Fortunately through some of my friends we were able to help.  How do I feel the gratitude and fortune in connecting with my friend, as well as, that I could make a connection and know people who are willing to help?  I next went to visit a friend’s new restaurant, then onto a meditation at Yogoda Satsanga in Kupondole, in an effort to find deeper meaning and something that is missing from my life.

After talking to new people and describing my work they often tell me that I’m a social worker, i.e. “any of various professional activities or methods concretely concerned with providing social services and especially with the investigation, treatment, and material aid of the economically, physically, mentally, or socially disadvantaged.”  I always reply no, but maybe I am.  For any job or volunteer experience how does this help you to feel that you are feeding your soul?  How is it that being a social worker, owning a small shop, being a farmer or a banker is providing depth and meaning in one’s life? 

Some may take spiritual life for granted; it’s just something we do because this is what our parents and past generations have done.  The meaning of it escapes us and the physical plain is all that there really is.  Some of us just do our jobs because we must support our families, but is it really what we truly want to be doing?  Many have no choice. 

As in much of the work that I do I must find partners because I often don’t have the resources to have the comprehensive pieces in place.  This is the same for our lives. We must reach out and find that which helps us to put the pieces in place to be able to
do what we are meant to do.  Wouldn’t it be great to be able to feel that the partners in one’s life, whether they be spiritual, work, friends, family, experiences are all leading to a greater feeling of gratitude in helping to feed one’s soul and making our world a better place.