The latest from Clever Doc. Her latest question is this: How many times in the past week did you spend more than one hour
refreshing your body or spirit (not counting eating or sleeping)? If you missed the previous 7 questions, here they are:

Do You Laugh Enough?
Are You Still Learning?
How Angry Are You?
Do You Feel Trapped?
Do You Talk to People?
Are You Eating Right?
Are You Taking Risks?

This is the deal: It is not selfish to take care of yourself. It’s self-preservation.

Why?

Because we have things to do, things to accomplish: raise the kids, write the novel, change the world. And life is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s an adventure, not merely a “journey”. Think immigrants; think explorers; think newly-weds; think people who’ve gotten bad news; think all of us with missions and goals. We need to be in good shape because we face plenty of unknowns and downright perils.

Somehow we have to stay up — resilient, open, creative. (“Motherhood is the necessity of invention,” I’ve always thought.)

Change will seek us out, whether we welcome it or not. We need to be on our toes like a good soccer goalie faces a tricky offense.

The only way we can keep on keeping on with enthusiasm and effectiveness is to take care. (“Take care!” we say to others. How about us?)

If we were engines, our smart owners would maintain us, make sure we have fuel, keep us looking spiffy. We are the smart owners of our own bodies and sprits. Barreling along 24/7/365 is trendy but not sustainable. Running on fumes, we’re bound to break some important parts, such as ideas, health and dear relationships.

When you answer question #8, write down the specifics. Maybe it would be good to spend more time on them.

EIGHT:  How many times in the past week did you spend more than one hour refreshing your body or spirit (not counting eating or sleeping)?
6+  (4 points)
4 – 5 (3 points)
2 – 3 (2 points)
1 (1 point)
It was more than one week ago (0 points)