New Year’s Resolutions

Last year I resolved to floss more, amongst other things. I managed to hold onto this resolution though about August with great success. The success became intermittent during September, October, and sort of went poof! during November and December. Dental Hygiene just wasn’t as important to me as finishing a paper for one of my Industrial Hygiene classes.

Speaking of hygiene in general, dental hygiene as a profession has ruined it for us industrial hygienists. Now, no matter what I try to do, as soon as the word hygiene leaves my mouth when I tell people my major, they look at me and think, ‘what, like in dentistry?’ Oh, they may not say it, but they are thinking it. “Industrial hygiene huh?, Oh, I get it, you teach industry to brush its teeth!” Nope! The dictionary defines the word hygiene as 1.The science that deals with the promotion and preservation of health, and 2. Conditions and practices that serve to promote or preserve health. Therefore an industrial hygienist is one who creates conditions to promote or preserve health within the workplace, or industry. Similarly, a dental hygienist is one who promotes and preserves health within the mouth. See. Ok, I just had to clear that up. Oh, that and the fact that I went into industrial hygiene had nothing whatsoever to do with my resolution last year to improve my dental hygiene.

This year, I plan on renewing the aforementioned flossing resolution. It can’t hurt, and unlike those resolutions to ‘lose some weight’ or ‘get in shape’ it is a small goal and readily attainable. Floss more than zero times a year last year turned into flossing with pretty good regularity for 3/4ths of the year. This year, I’ll go for 4/5ths or even 5/6ths. (I’m having fun with fractions, boy but I’m a geek!). I’d like to make a second resolution, but for the life of me I can’t come up with one. Yes, I want to lose some weight. I also want to tone up the tummy and other bits of the self, and get into better shape. This is not necessarily a resolution which, by the way, the dictionary defines as: a course of action determined or decided on, the state or quality of being resolute; firm determination. I would very much like to do the North Shore Inline Marathon again this year, and I think I’m going to expand my racing to include the Great River Roll and the Roll for the Roses. (Two local Cities races, one is a half marathon, and the other only 6 miles I believe.) I’d also like to be able to finish the Hairpin Run 5K without having to walk at all – time is irrelevant as I don’t plan on winning. These are all goals though, not resolutions. This leaves me in a quandary. I get into better shape to do these things (which inherently includes the losing some weight and toning up) but I have no other resolutions to spout to friends and strangers Friday night. Hmmmm. I thought about saying “I resolve not to procrastinate on my Master’s Thesis work.” That would be an outright disaster though. I know me, and I know I can’t not procrastinate on things, especially big papers.

Ooh, I know…how about I resolve to journal more. Both on my blog and in a paper journal that I bought two years ago, started, and then ripped the pages I’d started out of so that it’s blank again and ready for the ‘me of now’. I could have left them in there (and I didn’t throw them out) but I am SUCH a different person now that two years ago when I started it that it would be very strange to read back from one to the other. Ok, barring an epiphany that includes a much better resolution than ‘journaling more’ I think I’ve found my resolution for aught five.

What are other people resolving to do?