Meg Evans

When I came across this word-art image, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to repost it for Nurturing Thursday. I really liked the message, but someone had cut off part of the letters while cropping it.

Then I decided, well, it’s okay that the letters are a bit messed up. After all, that totally fits the theme of being okay with small mistakes and things that are less than perfect. No worries!

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.

After running the Turkey Trot road race with my family this morning, I thought about how many choices we have in today’s world and how many reasons we have to be thankful. Family and community activities came to mind first, and then blogs and other modern media that keep us connected and informed, as well as the wide variety of new technologies and career options that people have nowadays.

Even shopping can get pretty interesting. My husband was looking at microwave ovens online because our old microwave is wearing out. He told me that the new ones are connected to the Internet and have an app that lets a person scan a box of packaged food, so that the microwave can cook the food according to the manufacturer’s directions without any need to use a keypad to set the cooking time. I hadn’t been aware of that, and I thought it was a clever idea.

Wishing my readers a happy Thanksgiving with family fun and interesting discoveries, 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.

My daughter volunteered to cook Thanksgiving dinner for our family, including my husband’s parents and siblings. She enjoys cooking, which is fortunate because she also offered to help her mother-in-law, which she’ll do after running the early-morning Turkey Trot with us.

That’s a lot to do, and she creatively resolved the conflict by asking us if we’d be okay with having Thanksgiving dinner on Friday this year, so that she can cook and eat with both her husband’s family and ours. Usually we’re pretty flexible, and we told her that would be fine. Still, it’s an ambitious plan; but as a general rule, what is done out of love can be expected to turn out well.

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 recently decided to see an orthodontist about my lower front teeth, which used to be fairly straight, but have gotten a bit crooked over the years. Although they are not that bad, I feel as if I ought to get them taken care of, anyway—if only to persuade my anxious younger selves that I do, in fact, make a regular practice of taking good care of myself.

More generally, this year I’ve been feeling, intuitively, that I need tangible reminders that most things in life are fixable. When old worries pop up, as they do from time to time, I tell myself that there is no need for concern; but I haven’t always been able to make myself feel the truth of it. So, when I came across this useful bit of advice, it seemed like a good fit for a Nurturing Thursday post.

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 haven’t spent much time visiting and commenting on blogs recently, although I plan to do more over the winter. I’ve been traveling to regattas on the weekends with my husband and the rowing club, which is fun but hasn’t left me with as much time or energy for online activities as usual.

Not surprisingly, I haven’t gotten as many comments as usual, either. That’s just the natural way of things—when we spend more time interacting with others, they’re more likely to think about doing the same with us. And more generally, whenever we put energy into the world, it’s likely to find its way back.

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 it’s a dark, rainy morning where I live, the weather hasn’t affected my mood. I woke up to a little trickle of dim light coming through the bedroom shades, but feeling like things were going pretty well anyway. Wishing a great day to my readers 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.

Last weekend I was a bit disappointed with myself because I didn’t row as well in my single race as I would have liked. It was scheduled soon after my husband and I finished our double race, and I didn’t have quite enough energy left for the single. My time was better than last year, but although I tried to put on more speed as I got near the finish line, it was not good enough to earn a medal.

Of course, there are many people who wouldn’t have the endurance to row two 5K races in the same day. Some won’t race a single at all because it takes more effort than rowing in a team boat. So, I shouldn’t have been disappointed. Just to try is pretty good in itself, and there will be other chances to do better.

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 was watering my houseplants just now, and I started thinking about how much better the world would be if we all took care of ourselves just as regularly. Sometimes when we get busy and neglect ourselves, we don’t have enough awareness and concern regarding our own needs to know that we need more self-nurturing. Maybe we have some idea of how our friends feel, and how our plants look, but we lose track of ourselves. If we put a little more effort into making friends with ourselves, then we wouldn’t end up feeling “wilted” and wondering why we have so little energy left for others.

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.

This time of year, it often feels as if the pace of life has speeded up and, sometimes, that there is just too much going on. In the modern world, we do indeed have a lot of assorted obligations and distractions, which can make it hard to keep track of all the details.

What’s good about it, though, is that we also have a lot of choices. We don’t have to stay in one place doing the same things forever. Instead, we can pick and choose among the many possibilities that are open to us, keeping the ones we most enjoy and letting the others go.

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.

Now that the fall season has started for rowing races, my husband and I have been going to regattas on the weekends. On Saturday we rowed in Toledo’s regatta on the Maumee River. It was a lovely day with calm water and excellent weather.

We’ve been there several times, and by now that river is starting to feel comfortable and familiar. It’s very different from just a few years ago, when the race course seemed like a big, scary, dangerous place. When we made the decision to start traveling to regattas as novice rowers, sometimes it felt overwhelming. But as time went by, it naturally got easier.

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.