Meg Evans

Posting a blog entry for Nurturing Thursday late on a Saturday afternoon is definitely the slowest I’ve ever been! I had planned to write a post on Thursday after work, as usual; but after I got some exercise and took a shower, it was late enough that I decided to cook dinner first. And after that, I sat down at the computer, only to discover it wasn’t working.

We have another home computer, but my husband has been using it for a remote connection to his work computer since he started working from home last year. His company had a software release scheduled for Friday, so he was doing some last-minute bug fixes. I was starting to get sleepy anyway, so decided I might as well just go to bed and let it wait. That turned out to be a rather long wait because my husband bought new motherboards for both computers and upgraded them to Windows 11, which was a good thing to do, but wasn’t finished until today.

Of course, I could’ve gotten up early on Friday to write a post on the other computer before my husband got up, but it didn’t seem worth sacrificing sleep to write something that was already late. And besides, Nurturing Thursday is mainly about taking care of oneself, which includes being well rested and not rushing around. Slow and steady made more sense!

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to “give this planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.” Visit her site to find more Nurturing Thursday posts and a list of frequent contributors.

Once upon a time, my workgroup had a tradition of weekly emails with positive word-art to keep up team morale. They were fun, and we had a friendly, cheerful group for many years. As time went by, though, some people retired while others got busier, and the weekly emails ended.

When I thought about it recently, it occurred to me that the emails were very much like my Nurturing Thursday posts, and that I could start a new tradition. So, this morning I sent out a Nurturing Thursday email to my coworkers, featuring one of the word-art images that I put into a blog entry last month, along with a brief explanation of the history.

I am hoping this will encourage more positivity and self-nurturing among my coworkers. Of course, I can’t know for sure what will happen; but sometimes a few kind words from a friend can go much farther than we imagine. Anyway, I’d like to think so.

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to “give this planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.” Visit her site to find more Nurturing Thursday posts and a list of frequent contributors.

Although my daughter always blows in like a whirlwind when she visits, we found time over Thanksgiving weekend to put up the Christmas tree together. This week has been warmer than usual, and it probably will be a while before it gets cold enough for snow. Still, just seeing the tree with all its lights, ornaments, and family memories gives the days more winter cheer.

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to “give this planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.” Visit her site to find more Nurturing Thursday posts and a list of frequent contributors.

I have to admit, I didn’t do much for Thanksgiving dinner this year. My husband and I didn’t feel like cooking a big turkey dinner, and our daughter has to work and can’t be here until Saturday. Still, it will be good to have the family together, even if it is not on the actual day. What matters is being grateful for all our blessings and for being in the world together.

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to “give this planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.” Visit her site to find more Nurturing Thursday posts and a list of frequent contributors.

I rowed well on Saturday, as did my husband; we were much faster than two years ago, both in the double and in singles. Afterward, though, I felt totally drained of energy, as if the stress and exhaustion of a long training plan and competing in so many regattas had caught up with me all at once.

Even after coming home, I still felt tired all week. This morning I woke up feeling better rested, but that energy did not last through the afternoon. I had to remind myself that I worked harder to improve my rowing than in past years, so it was only natural that I would need some time to rest and recover. Instead of getting frustrated about not bouncing back instantly, I should give myself more kindness and understanding.

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to “give this planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.” Visit her site to find more Nurturing Thursday posts and a list of frequent contributors.

Rowing season comes to an end, for me anyway, on Saturday when my husband and I compete in one last regatta, the Head of the South. It’s in Augusta, Georgia, which is forecast to have pleasantly warm weather. Meanwhile, there may be snow flurries here in Ohio, which I’ll be glad to miss.

We both worked hard to follow the training plans from our online coach this year, improving our fitness and our racing performance. I have to admit that it felt exhausting at times, and sometimes I wasn’t sure if I could deal with the stress of it, both mental and physical. But, of course, those exhausted feelings did not mean that there was anything really wrong with me. The goal was never to be perfect, but to make steady improvement and be able to keep on going when put under pressure.

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to “give this planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.” Visit her site to find more Nurturing Thursday posts and a list of frequent contributors.

On Tuesday, I gave a presentation on Resilience, Stress Tolerance, and Flexibility, which I had mentioned in a previous post was one of my projects for this year. It was part of a series by several presenters, aimed at helping employees feel comfortable with digital transformation. The pace of automation at my company has been much faster recently, and people have been getting stressed about it, especially after all the disruptions in the world generally.

This was my first company-wide presentation, and although the audience wasn’t huge, it was enough to make me nervous anyway. I needed to take my own advice on helpful ways to calm down and find focus! But my mentor was very positive, one of the other presenters helped me by finding good animations for some of my slides, and everything went well. I even got a compliment on my avatar (I’ve been using the same one at work that I use here).

Afterward, I thanked my mentor for encouraging me to get involved with the presentation group and told her that the project definitely had improved my own skills in Resilience, Stress Tolerance, and Flexibility! Having the opportunity to work with people who are so kind and cheerful left me feeling very good.

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to “give this planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.” Visit her site to find more Nurturing Thursday posts and a list of frequent contributors.

Sometimes, we all need little reminders to be kind and understanding to ourselves. I’ve never actually posted paper notes to myself around the house, but I do think it’s a good idea.

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to “give this planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.” Visit her site to find more Nurturing Thursday posts and a list of frequent contributors.

I ran in a 5K road race with my husband on Tuesday. We like to see the runners in their Halloween costumes, although usually we don’t dress up ourselves. It’s just for fun, and we are not competing against anyone in particular; so I was surprised when I saw that my time was more than two minutes faster than any of my previous results. All the rowing I’ve done this year must have improved my fitness overall.

But, truth be told, my legs were still feeling achy today. I did an online yoga class to stretch them out, and then some easy rowing on the erg, but didn’t push myself. Fitness is good, but taking care to get enough rest is important too.

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to “give this planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.” Visit her site to find more Nurturing Thursday posts and a list of frequent contributors.

On Saturday, my rowing club traveled to a nearby regatta. The 5K race course is on a reservoir, without much scenery, and in past years it often has been chilly and rainy. I rowed in the women’s double race because my husband, who recently became a referee, decided that he’d rather ref than row, so we didn’t compete in our mixed double this time.

The weather turned out to be gorgeous, so he missed out on a good row. Although there was a headwind, the water wasn’t too choppy, and it was sunny and warm.

My rowing partner, Deb, is pretty strong, and we were almost as fast as the guys from our club who were in the men’s double race. Needless to say, my husband didn’t miss the opportunity to razz them about how close they came to getting crushed by the ladies. It was all in good fun!

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to “give this planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.” Visit her site to find more Nurturing Thursday posts and a list of frequent contributors.