Remember  CLEVER DOC and her ten questions:

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?
Are You Refreshing Your Body and Spirit
How Often Do You Consider Your Aspirations When You Make Decisions?
Are you Encouraging To Others?

Now Clever Doc, an internist and occupational health specialist, is back with a casserole test:

Awhile back, I devised a two-part, Two-Casserole Test:  It starts like this:” How many people in your life will bring you two casseroles when you need them, when troubles roll on and on and even multiply?” Neighbors, church, the office will send one casserole (or card or bouquet). Friends care so much that they will send two – or many more. The rest of the question is, “How many people in your life will you take two casseroles to when they need it?”   

Despite our hectic lives, most of us know deep down that friends are important. We share the good times and we are a source of comfort and ideas to each other. We are safe with friends. We don’t have to clean the house before they visit. A woman once told me, “A friend is someone who will take you in, in the middle of the night, when you are running away.” Friends are committed to each other.  As comic book writer Len Wein said, “A friend is someone who is there for you when he’d rather be anywhere else.”

And here are some casserole recipes from Brooklyn’s casserole queen and blogger, Emily Farris.

If we are so busy, how can we find and keep friendships?  Tune in tomorrow!

Now it’s time to  total you score. Your answers help measure how deftly you juggle your commitments. For more information about this test go to the RENEW-O-METER.

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?
Are You Refreshing Your Body and Spirit
How Often Do You Consider Your Aspirations When You Make Decisions?
Are you Encouraging To Others?

 If you’re in the 31 – 40 point zone, you’re a superstar; the 0 to 19
zone suggests that you have too many balls in the air. High, low, or in
between, this check-up can make you aware, lead to reflection and
conversations, and stir you to make plans and take action. If you
missed the others here they are.

How’d you do?

Here’s the final question from CLEVER DOC (AKA Linda Hawes Clever, MD, MACP), who is an internist and specialist in occupational health. She is the founder of Renew. Here is the tenth and final  question she is posing to readers of OTBKB. If you  missed the others 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?
Are You Refreshing Your Body and Spirit
How Often Do you Consider Your Aspirations When You Make Decisions?

Integrity and honesty receive the most mention when groups list their values. Compassion and kindness are close behind. A physician once told me, “If I’m too beat to be empathetic, at least I can be kind.”

Two thousand years ago, Philo of Alexandria, whose writings were incorporated into Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, said, “Be kind, for everyone you know is fighting a great battle.” Kindness can be a touch, a smile, a thank you. Kindness can be going an extra mile to help a neighbor — and we are all neighbors. Kindness can be encouragement.

The ancient Romans could feel their hearts pounding before battle. Our word “courage” comes from  “cor,” their word for “heart.” In a way, to encourage someone means to put our own courage, our heart into theirs.  It takes time, and we have so little time, but being kind is a good thing.

Question #10 is the last in this quiz about renewing. Answer it and then total up your score. Your answers help measure how deftly you juggle your commitments. If you’re in the 31 – 40 point zone, you’re a superstar; the 0 to 19 zone suggests that you have too many balls in the air. High, low, or in between, this check-up can make you aware, lead to reflection and conversations, and stir you to make plans and take action. That’s renewing!

TEN:  When was the last time you encouraged someone?

Within the past day (4 points)
Within the past few days (3 points)
1 – 2 weeks ago (2 points)
3 – 6 weeks ago (1 point)
Quarterly or less (0 points)

   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)