I made a contribution last month to the Carter Center, remembering the former president’s tireless work to advance democracy and to make the world a better place. He had a full and inspiring life, well deserving of the praise he received today. Character still matters.
Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to encourage self-nurturing and to “give the planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.”
I had a full workday after a long and relaxing holiday break. Weirdly, it didn’t feel much different. The end of the holidays didn’t leave me feeling deprived of free time. All day, I sat in my desk chair feeling just as relaxed as if I’d been playing games or browsing through blogs, although I was doing my usual job. My Garmin tracker said that I had multiple restful periods while working. Whatever might have caused this curious circumstance, I felt that I was fully inhabiting the now.
Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to encourage self-nurturing and to “give the planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.”
“Okay, I am not going to judge whether my resolution for last year was a success,” I said to myself after I’d been staring at a blank notepad for several minutes, trying to get started writing this post.
Outside my living room windows, January 1st was a typical winter day in Ohio: cloudy, cold, and windy. Light snow had mostly melted, and the ground just looked damp and soggy. My couch was comfortable, though; I’d bought it in late summer, soon after getting the windows replaced. A new purple blanket—a Christmas gift from my daughter—occupied the other end of the couch, ready to keep my feet warm if needed.
In terms of material comforts, I had made some progress on my New Year’s resolution for 2024—to soar, letting go of things that weighed me down. The house wasn’t looking as neglected these days. I felt better now that I had good, clear windows letting in plenty of sunlight.
Replacing worn-out old physical stuff—however desirable—hadn’t been the main point, though. Did I feel lighter emotionally as the past year came to a close? Had I become less weighed down by old worries? That was harder to determine, and I had a strong intuitive feeling that I shouldn’t be judging myself in such terms anyway. After all, I wasn’t under any obligation to give my psyche a year-end performance review.
Dot, my imaginary personified to-do list and New Year’s resolution advisor, chose that moment to make her appearance. She curled up cozily on the other end of the couch, kicking off the red shoes she’d worn on the yellow brick road in 2023. Arranging her long skirt comfortably over her stockinged feet on the middle cushion, she helped herself to my blanket.
“No gold stars for waking up in a good mood,” she inquired, “or lumps of coal for feeling grumpy?”
“Well, no. Moods come and go. Intending to wake up cheerful doesn’t guarantee that it will happen. If I wanted to give myself gold stars, it would be for promptly recognizing grumpy moods and allowing them to pass. As to that, I feel I’ve done better toward year’s end, although there is space for improvement. I have the word ‘Allow’ in mind as a word of intention for 2025.”
“Allow what is, without judgment as to how it got there,” Dot suggested, pulling together my somewhat disorganized themes, “and then allow it to pass, as it always does.”
The holiday clock on the shelf chimed the hour with a snippet of ‘O Christmas Tree’ as I considered Dot’s idea for a resolution.
“I like that. It fits together,” I decided. “To be honest, I haven’t found much energy for writing on this dark winter day, but I can allow that to be my reality in the moment without judging myself. That doesn’t mean it will be the same tomorrow or next week. By closing out this post with a workable resolution, I’ve accomplished what I wanted to do for today, even if I haven’t written a brilliantly creative epic.”
Dot patted the couch softly. Toto jumped up beside her, stretching out on the middle cushion and kneading a corner of the blanket between his front paws.
“Yes, sometimes we just need to rest and be lazy for a while, letting our energy build back up. Pets know that by instinct, and it’s just as true for us.”
I’ve had a quiet day so far, talking with my husband about everyday things, reading a novel on my Kindle, and exchanging emails with my sister in San Francisco that have cute photos of dogs wanting to play. After a peaceful, unhurried holiday week, my first thought about writing a Nurturing Thursday post was that I didn’t have much to say. Then it occurred to me that appreciating these small joys is well worth a blog entry—perhaps more so than chronicling busy days crammed full of tasks.
Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to encourage self-nurturing and to “give the planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.”
This morning, while sitting at my desk, I was feeling achy after some hard rowing machine exercises recently. The plan for today called for two sets of high-speed intervals, which (to be honest) I didn’t feel motivated to do. When I sat down on the Hydrow around noon, I was grumbling to myself about having too many demanding workouts right before Christmas vacation, rather than being able to relax and wind down.
I started to feel better after an easy 15-minute warmup, though. Watching the virtual-journey scenery (the one I chose was a river in Australia) go by on the monitor was relaxing, and the aches faded away. When I did the intervals, I was faster than the previous time I’d done them, and I felt stronger. Afterward, I did an easy 30-minute cool-down row to flush out the muscles, and later in the day I did some exercises with a soft foam roller. I’m feeling pretty good now—there was nothing to grumble about, after all.
Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to encourage self-nurturing and to “give the planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.”
When I sat down at the computer this evening to put together a Nurturing Thursday post, I have to confess that I was not feeling imaginative and wasn’t sure what to say. My day had been quiet and calm, but not particularly creative. I felt like I had words floating around randomly in my brain that didn’t want to arrange themselves into anything useful. Rather than worry about where my imagination might have gone, I decided that I should just get some rest and be thankful for a calm day.
Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to encourage self-nurturing and to “give the planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.”
When I came across this word-art image, it left me with feelings of peace and contentment; so, I’m sharing it for Nurturing Thursday, in hopes that it will leave my readers feeling happier too. Enjoy!
Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to encourage self-nurturing and to “give the planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.”
Happy Thanksgiving! I had a joyful day. This morning, I ran the Turkey Trot with my family. I was well rested and naturally woke up early, the weather was comfortably cool, and I kept a steady pace. After we got home and everyone was out of the shower and dressed, we decided to put up the Christmas tree. We usually wait until after Thanksgiving, but the coming week is forecast to be wintery, so we decided to go ahead and brighten the house with holiday lights. It looks very cheerful now, and we had a relaxing day and a good dinner. There was much to be thankful for today.
Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to encourage self-nurturing and to “give the planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.”
After many unseasonably warm autumn days, it finally turned cold last night. Seeing that snow was in the forecast, my husband dutifully put the snowblower attachment on the multi-purpose lawn mower yesterday. There wasn’t actually a need for it, given that we both work from home and had no errands to run. But, after so many years when snow was a chore to be dealt with before going to the office, getting the snowblower ready before the white stuff first made its appearance was his usual routine.
It melted quickly, of course, because the ground was still warm. This wasn’t a day for snow angels, snow sculptures, or other winter fun. Everything was just damp and gray. Still, I opened the blinds to let in what sunlight there was, reminding myself that winter is part of nature and there is joy to be found in any weather.
Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to encourage self-nurturing and to “give the planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.”
Following up on last month’s post about sweaty hands while rowing, which stressed me out when I couldn’t hold the oars properly in a 5K race in early October, I had the same problem rowing at the Head of the Charles two weeks later. I drank plenty of electrolyte mix before racing, but I wasn’t as well rested as I should have been, and I drank too much coffee that morning. That got me wondering if I might do better if I abstained from coffee for a while.
So, I gave up caffeinated coffee and tea for three weeks, drinking only decaf until the end of the fall rowing season. That didn’t make the problem go away, either. It just made me feel cranky. I had been cheerful and optimistic when the season started, but by November I felt lost without a clue, wandering aimlessly.
Last week, after my final race of the year, I went back to drinking coffee—just one cup—each morning. As far as I can tell, a small amount of coffee doesn’t make me sweat more on the rowing machine. Even if it did, that wouldn’t matter anyway because holding the machine’s handle is a much simpler motion than sculling. My hands won’t be a concern in the spring either; for Masters rowers, the spring races are 1K sprints, which take about four minutes, so they’re already over before I’ve had time to build up much of a sweat.
Hopefully, by next fall the problem will have gone away. Until then, I am just going to enjoy my coffee and not worry about what might—or might not—happen many months in the future.
