It's a New Year

With every new year, I try to sit down and ponder all the things that I should change in my life. Resolutions are made and I wake up on each January 1st feeling that I have purpose. I make that list a priority and try to take it very seriously. But by the end of the first week, I predictably get involved in the day to day and forget even the most important of resolutions. By November any resolution I might have made is such a distant memory that I begin to think of them as new ideas for the new year! I think that this is human....or just me!

So this year, I decided to keep it simple. I would do one thing to improve my life and make a difference. I really thought and thought of just the one thing that I could do. The answer came to me while I was brushing my teeth. Actually, the answer was "brushing my teeth" -- not that I wasn't brushing my teeth, but I had opted not to have an electric toothbrush for years and decided that I could probably use one. So, on this most important of years, that of 2010, I am now going to brush my teeth with an electric toothbrush -- twice a day...at least!

Now I realize that this might seem insignificant, but when you think of it, this one small change might be just the catalyst that I need to effect larger more defining "tweeks" in my life. Just as a penny saved will eventually add to the dollars you put in savings, maybe a tooth brushed will lead to the invention of a new great convenience tool. Maybe while I am brushing my teeth I will think of something brilliant and become the next Thomas Edison. How did he figure out the light bulb anyway? Was he just sitting in the dark imagining what it would be like to read after the sun went down? Was he tired of the wind blowing out his candles? Was he exhausted after looking at life through a shadowed eye??? Maybe he was brushing his teeth in the dark and wanted to see what he was doing!

Small steps will lead to larger ones. So, for me the year of 2010 is all about brushing your teeth -- maybe flossing with greater gusto or whitening more frequently. Might not give me an academy award or the nobel peace prize, but at least I can have healthier teeth and gums. A beginning at the very least!