Meg Evans

I did an indoor rowing exercise this afternoon, consisting of four intervals of 5 minutes each. It was part of a weekly plan that my husband and I get from our online coaches. Last year, I was assigned a precise result for this same exercise: my time for each 500 meters (known in rowing jargon as the split) was to be 2:12.2. Over 5 minutes, that comes out to 1,135 meters. I was able to do it for each interval, but it felt exhausting.

The coaches weren’t so exact about it this year, and when I sat down on the machine, I had in mind that I would just try to stay somewhere around a 2:12 split and not worry about where it came out. The exercise felt like it had a much easier flow this time, and as it turned out, I still ended up with precisely 2:12.2 for each interval. Not overthinking it worked much better for me!

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.”

Many years ago, I lived in a neighborhood where an outdoor cat had a habit of walking in mud puddles and then jumping up on parked cars, leaving a line of muddy paw prints across the car. Maybe the cat thought of itself as an artist. We usually kept our cars safely in the garage, but the cat got my husband’s car once when it was in the driveway, and our daughter (who was very young) thought it was hilarious when he grumbled, “I hate cats!” For a long time after that, she went around saying, “Daddy HATES cats!” and giggling.

That memory came to mind not long ago, randomly, when I was looking at a cat picture online. It got me thinking about how quickly life goes by. Even when things seem like major annoyances at the time, we may find that they make us smile later.

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 meant to post my weekly Thursday entry earlier, but once again, the day got away from me. One of these days I’ll get my life better sorted. Of course, like anything else, it takes patience…

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 to compose my Nurturing Thursday entry, I got distracted and spent some time browsing through old stories and posts I wrote many years ago. I had meant to say something about those persistent feelings of always searching for a sense of direction, with a bright, shiny future somewhere just out of sight.

After looking at some of my past blog entries, though, I realized there had been quite a lot going on in my life, whether or not I’d been consciously aware of it. I had been growing my wings—much more than I knew.

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 week I’ve been having an email conversation with a friend about the common belief that when we are not feeling energetic, it is because we are getting older. Although I have felt somewhat tired and run down this summer, it was clear enough, when I thought about it, that the culprit wasn’t the lurking gremlins of middle age but, instead, had to do with higher expectations and pushing myself to do more than usual.

On Monday morning, I went to the boathouse with my husband, and we rowed 21K as practice for traveling to the Chicago rowing half-marathon this coming weekend. Naturally, I felt more tired than when I was younger and didn’t take fitness as seriously! Keeping up with a demanding workout schedule and traveling to rowing competitions, while working full time (and some amount of overtime) was more than I once thought I could do. I haven’t, in fact, lost energy; instead, as the years went by, I overcame a significant number of limiting beliefs and set the bar much higher.

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.”

Too much work and not enough play have been making me dull this summer, or at least it feels that way. My mind needs to wander aimlessly and refresh itself. The long Labor Day weekend will be much welcomed. Giving myself (and anyone who needs it) a reminder to set aside enough time for play.

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’ve just finished an online restorative yoga exercise with the title “Finding Stillness.” It was as mellow as that name suggests, mainly involving supported positions where one is supposed to melt into the yoga blocks and let go of all the day’s work. Before that, I went for a long walk around my neighborhood while the sun was setting.

The August air still felt hot and heavy during my walk, but it was good to get outdoors anyway. My workday was long because I’ve been doing overtime this summer, and it took me a while to relax and settle into the rhythm of the walk. At first, the flowers and trees in the neighbors’ yards looked like random shapes without much meaning to them, after sitting at my desk all day staring at the monitor. But, after a while, the bright colors of the late-summer blossoms perked up my overtired brain a little more, and even the weeds left me smiling at Nature’s persistence.

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 random conversation with my husband earlier this week about running hot water over a glass jar to loosen the lid. I thought it was mainly because the metal lid expanded, but he said it was more because the air at the top of the jar expanded.

So, tonight when I was opening spaghetti sauce for dinner, I tried running hot water over most of the jar, rather than just the lid as I had done in the past. And yes, he was right; it definitely was easier to get off.

I’ll keep in mind, from now on, that the world is probably full of easier ways of doing things—but first, one must expect to be able to find them.

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.”

My husband got his car back today, after several days in the shop. The torque converter needed replacing, which shouldn’t have been too hard except that in today’s vehicles, everything is so crammed together that many parts had to be taken out just to reach it. So, a large bill for many hours of labor, but I was still smiling a little, just because he was so happy to be “rehorsed,” as he put it.

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 just put in a Domino’s pizza delivery order online, and, as of the time I typed this sentence, the tracker page said it had been in the oven for 4 minutes. Of course, the pizza will still taste the same when it gets here, regardless of whether I know precisely what time it was baked. Still, it’s kind of nice to live in a world where we have more information about what’s going on around us. When I take a moment to notice and appreciate such little things, as trivial as they may be, I find myself becoming more aware of how many reasons there are to be thankful.

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.”