Pushing To Get Stronger

I had a night full of night sweats so I didn't sleep very well at all.  I knew I was going out with friends tonight so I planned to have a quiet day.  I decided in the morning that I would try to cut the grass.  Normally, it would take me one hour to cut the front, side and back lawns.  Today, I cut the front and had to take a break.  I, then, cut the side lawn and half of the back lawn before I needed to take another 2 hour break.  I finally finished the lawn and felt satisfied.  The lawn mower was much heavier to handle than I remember.  It was difficult to push it up the slight grade in our backyard.  I noticed my arms are weaker.  My legs are weaker.  Cutting the grass was the only task I was able to accomplish today.

While I rested during the cutting of the lawn and afterwards, I sat on the patio and reclined in the lounger. I read my current book, watched the wildlife in the yard and worked on the crossword puzzles in the newspaper.  I'm really enjoying the patio this year.  The colours in the yard seem much more vivid to me.  I'm appreciating more individual moments and "taking time to smell the roses".  I hope this will be a permanent change for me.  What I mean is that I won't go back to running constantly to try to complete all my work, chores and activities.  I hope that I will remember to stop and enjoy the quiet moments.

Tonight, we went out to dinner with friends at an Italian restaurant downtown.  We really enjoyed ourselves but I I could feel my knees starting to ache.  When I tried to rise to leave, my knees and leg muscles were very, very sore.  My husband was concerned because I was not able to stand upright at first.  My knees didn't start to limber up until we were well outside the restaurant and heading for the van.  I will need to make sure that I keep moving and walking every day so that my muscles can continue to get stronger.

I'm tired now and hopefully will have a good night's sleep.  I'm very satisfied with how my day unfolded.  I'm pleased that I am continuing to learn to take things slowly.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.