Mukta's "Joy"
After my daughter married and moved away, I lived alone in India, enjoying my retirement with support from family and friends. However, as she is my only child I decided to apply for a visa as a Dependent and came to live with her in the UK. I arrived in 2019 and adjusted easily as we are a close family and happy to be together.
Soon after my arrival, COVID hit the country and life was very restricted. I started mixing socially a couple of years later joining a Senior Citizens group and attending English classes. I made many friends and was able to enjoy a rewarding social life. As I had been a doctor in my professional life, I had always been respected right from my student days.
I have friends who came to Northern Ireland as students and encountered difficulties in their daily lives. They realised they were all in a similar situation and that by helping one another no problem was insurmountable. They achieved their goals through tenacity and hard work and now, as they age, are leading happy, fulfilled lives.
I feel that in spite of any adversity in my early life, I have been very fortunate and thank the Almighty for his Grace in granting me peace and contentment in my twilight years.
I am grateful to Almighty God to have kept me away from the grievous experience in life. Being in the medical profession I had a chance to help many ladies of different ages, but now I can’t always remember their problems. From my experiences I can say that ladies of any age have special mental power with which they are able to overcome any difficult situation.
Recently I saw a video about preventive measures for mental ill-health which I have shown in the form of a picture explanation. *
When these measures illuminate our life, we can believe that life is meaningful and we can get up in the morning with hope and to do something positive.
FLASH (Friends, Learning, Art, Spirituality and Help)
- Friends are first in the list and perform major roles giving unconditional support for all other subsequent subjects indicated in the picture. They help, console, give confidence, hope and happiness.
- Learning - knowingly or unknowingly, one always acquires knowledge which keeps lighting the path of life.
- Art - like music, drawing, crafts, knitting etc. - gives happiness coming from constructive work and helps to make friends.
- Spirituality - though it takes up a very small part of our daily routine, it keeps on unknowingly giving support and confidence throughout the day.
- Lastly, helping others. The most important part of the day should be occupied in helping others, which makes life meaningful and happy and content. When we see the happiness in others, because of our help, that happiness reflects on our mind.
My best wishes to spread this light of happiness to all.
* Email correspondence between Mr Anand Kurkarni and Professor Tess Maginess, 15 April 2024.:
"In my consulting practice, I used to keep coming across people who have gone beyond financial survival but were not knowing how to live a meaningful life. This was leading them to experience feeling of being lost or depressed or disillusioned with life etc. And I could clearly see the impact of this to their physical health too.
In order to help them meaningfully engaged in life, I developed this system.
According to FLASH, below are the five areas to focus on.
Friends
Learning
Art
Spirituality
Helping others".
For further information: www.coachak.in
