New Year

[resonant]

Last year I made one New Year's resolution: to wash my hands immediately every time I came into the house from someplace else. I had bursitis in 2007, and some mysterious knee injury, and stitches in my hand, but I hardly got any colds at all.

It was a good resolution. I recommend it.

Maybe this year I'll resolve to floss.

How about you? Have you ever made a resolution that really, really worked for you?

Comments

[yahtzee63.livejournal.com]

A few years ago, when I was living in a town I disliked, doing a job I hated, I made a resolution to do at least one thing a day, every day, toward getting a new job in another town.

In February, I got my offer, and in March, I moved to NYC and a much better job.

Hard to top that one.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

I like that! I like it especially because it's full of small things you have complete control over.

[etui.livejournal.com]

I resolved to walk 1,000 miles in 2007. It felt great to achieve my goal. The weather's been cold/snowy/windy/grey here for the last couple of months and I haven't been walking much and I miss it, which is not something I thought I would ever say.

[fullygoldy.livejournal.com]

Wow! that is really cool!

[laurelwood.livejournal.com]

I like this goal so much that I'm stealing it. It's what, about 2.75 miles a day if you go every single day of the year? At any rate, it ought to dovetail nicely with my other goal of exercising the dog enough so that she doesn't have excess energy for mischief.

Thanks for the inspiration!

[reginagiraffe]

Last year I resolved to join a gym and start getting back in shape. I joined January 13 and have lost a net of about 7 pounds (which is probably a loss of about 15 pounds of fat and a gain of 8 pounds of muscle). I haven't had nearly as many back problems and my knee doesn't hurt as much. I'm getting my shapely thighs back, too! I average about 2.5 visits per week (at an hour per visit). I'm going to try and increase that this year.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Congrats on getting in shape! I'm against all diets, but I believe exercise is good for pretty much everything except for maybe compound fractures.

I didn't make a resolution about going to the gym, but I started doing it anyway because my father's doctor informed us that his memory loss could be connected to long-term high blood pressure. My blood pressure had been borderline for a year or more, and I'd been thinking: high blood pressure = have a heart attack and die = maybe ought to do something about that one of these days, but that suddenly changed the equation to high blood pressure = memory loss and eventual dementia = I'm at the gym the next morning, baby!

[fullygoldy.livejournal.com]

A long time ago, I resolved to try at least one bite of everything that was offered to me. I now have a huge appreciation for all things culinary, and love trying new things (even non-food new things). So it was kind of life changing.

Other than that, my resolutions don't usually work out. 2007's resolution to strengthen my female friendships had a few bright moments, but so far, no real lasting effects ::sigh::

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Wish I could get the kidlet to make that taste-new-foods resolution!

She insisted that all of us make resolutions; one of hers was "Make new friends."

I don't typically make resolutions because ... well, I'm not sure why not. Maybe because a year seems like such a long time? Maybe if you asked me to make a New Week's Resolution, I'd do better? The handwashing thing worked for me, I think, because it was so small and non-earth-shaking.

[damned-colonial.livejournal.com]

"Eat better quality cheese" was my all-time best resolution.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Bwah! I shared this with the spouse and he laughed too.

I wonder if I'd even like good-quality cheese? I mean, I'm an American and all.

[gnomad.livejournal.com]

Actually, the flossing resolution I made about 5 or 6 years back stuck really well. And even though I do mental battle with my conscience every night over skipping the floss because I'm too tired, 99% of the time I always do it.

You do notice the difference in teeth cleanliness if you floss on a regular basis as well. My teeth feel dirtier in next day if I don't floss and my breath gets stinkier faster.

[jelazakazone.livejournal.com]

I tried an experiment 10 years or so back where I didn't really floss for six months. When I went to the dentist and got my teeth cleaned, there was a lot more blood. This was back in the days when they had you spit into those basins with running water. It didn't take much for me to resolve to floss every day after that experience! (Hope that wasn't TMI for either of you!). (And, for the record, I do occasionally skip a flossing.)

[brynwulf]

I so need to make that floss resolution! Good luck with 2008 and that's really interesting about the washing hands thing. Will try that, too!

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Well, so far I've flossed four times. it's not like I never did it before; I just wasn't as consistent as I'd like to be.

Sometimes, though, I look at all the habits I'd like to have (exercise, wipe down bathrooms daily, keep up with laundry, floss, sweep floors, clean litter boxes, e-mail parents daily, etc.), and I wonder whether, if I had them all, there'd be any time left in the day at all!

[libitina]

My resolution last year was to drink more alcohol - this year, none of the booze in my house has gone bad on me.

[gnomad.livejournal.com]

Ahahahahaha! Best. resolution. ever.

[lexin.livejournal.com]

Mind if I nab that resolution? I'm currently suffering from my second illness in two weeks and am Not Happy.

[cjedwards.livejournal.com]

Nothing like the New Year coupled with illness to really make the hand-washing thing all-important. I'm stealing it as well for '08!

[lexin.livejournal.com]

Oh, I did once make one that seriously worked...I decided to stop buying cheap food and start buying food I could visualise myself eating and enjoying.

Saved me a fortune.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Hee! The spouse heard a guy giving food advice on the radio: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

[ecaterin.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. I was struggling through an emotional time a few years ago and made a resolution to do 2 things - give up caffeine for a good long while and exercise most days of every week (5 was my goal). I did this so I wouldn't have such a short temper and it worked amazingly well. It also dropped me from a size 16/18 to a size 8/10 which was a good motivator to keep going. That year was a good one for resolutions.

This year I'm biting THE BIG BULLET. I'm very allergic to chocolate. Which of course means I am totally addicted to it, totally totally totally. It gives me eczema, hives, cystic acne and wheezing when I eat it after a break of even a week or so and I know I have GOT to stop. I've known for years but my life was in shambles and I knew it would be too punishing to do it, even though it's ultimately an expression of self love, yk?

So this year things are good in my life and it's time. I know it's a no-going-back sort of thing. Once I'm off chocolate for 3 months or so it'll start kicking off full blown asthma attacks if I eat it....which I figure should be the end of a long unhealthy relationship :D

[100wordspermin.livejournal.com]

I admire your resolve to do this--I have a couple of foods I love that are bad for me (in more than the usual ways), too.

I wish you the best of success!

[spike21.livejournal.com]

yes, I promised my husband I would stop yelling at the radio like I was a crazy person and it could hear me. I have been about 80% successful at doing this and while it doesn't seem to have caused me much grief, it has made my husband much more relaxed. I say that's win win.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

I love this! I can picture it!

[shinetheway.livejournal.com]

My best resolution last year was to eat more fiber. I only lost ten pounds over the year, but my diet improved about six thousand percent--because really, exactly what junk food is high in fiber? I live for the day they invent a high-fiber potato chip.

After that, my second-best resolution was to clean out my inboxes and keep them that way. Seven thousand emails over two accounts, deleted or filed in a single orgasmic day. Whoot!

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Fiber -- that's a good resolution. It's too bad that most sources of fiber have to be, you know, washed and peeled, and often cooked. Whereas most sources of saturated fat can be consumed right out of the bag while watching television.

Man, I need to do your second resolution.

[sobelle.livejournal.com]

Yeah, my (permanent) yearly resolution... and it sounds really lame, I know, but it's to try and be more compassionate, find joy and be aware of my blessings every day...

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's so nice! I like that resolution.

[celli]

...no. *g* But there's always next year!

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Well, hey, if they work for you, they work for you. If not, not.

One year I went to a New Year's Eve party and some asshole was walking around shoving a camcorder in people's faces and demanding to know what their resolutions were.

[sobelle.livejournal.com]

I too wash my hands after being in public and carry waterless handcleaner if I'm taking public transportation... I also try to remember NOT to touch my face (mouth, eyes and nose in particular) before I do the hand cleaning...

I retired from a career in indigent criminal defense... and if people can't afford attorneys they usually can't afford doctors either and no matter how much hand washing we did? we still got sick... too much contact with airborne pathogens I guess...

Oh, and flu shots too...

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

I wonder which group is worse for sharing germs, people who can't afford a doctor or people who are too young to remember to wash their hands and blow their noses?

I'm really bad about hands-all-over-the-face, though. I should work on that.

[skuf.livejournal.com]

Happy New Year :o)

Have you ever made a resolution that really, really worked for you?
Yup, not making NY resolutions!

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Hee -- I used to make that one, too. The handwashing thing is the first resolution I've made for years, maybe since I gave up dieting.

from SB

[(Anonymous)]

My best resolution, and the only one I've ever kept, was not for New Years, but my daughter's first birthday. I'd been speaking to her in a combination of Spanish (my first language) and English and I resolved to only speak to her in Spanish and teach her to respond to me only in Spanish. She's five and a half now and equally fluent in both languages. If you're bilingual and planning/have small kids, go for it, it hasn't negatively affected her English fluency at all.

I also floss, because I saw my father go through gory surgery for periodontal disease when I was small.

Re: from SB

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Hey, you! Good to hear your voice see your typing!

I wish I could speak any other language, but alas, English is it for me. But yay for raising the girl bilingual. I believe that makes people smarter.

[ellex42.livejournal.com]

Actually, yes. My resolution was to stop speaking up when I know more about the subject of conversation than the people around me. I work with a bunch of people who, if I'm honest, are ignorant, bigoted, and ill-educated. Even the ones I like (and there actually are a few) know very little about the world around them and its history. And believe me, I'm not that knowledgable myself. I know just enough to know how little I actually know.

The thing is, most people don't want to know. Most people don't like to be corrected or educated. Yes, I realise this is a blanket statement, but it's one I find increasingly true the more people I meet.

So in self-defense, I've begun keeping my education, both school and self-taught, to myself.

And it works. I can't say dealing with my co-workers has been any easier, but that's due to a separate issue. At least I'm no longer resented for being a 'stuck-up know-it-all'.

I'm pretty good about the hand-washing, but I really need to floss more often. I'm definitely resolving to get a new job this year, though.

Happy 2008, and good luck with your resolutions!

[cjedwards.livejournal.com]

That's actually ironic, because I was thinking of resolving to speak up a bit more when people around me are driving me mental. It's a good point though- people just don't want to know if they're wrong. Thanks for your testimony, you've probably saved me headaches!

[elsie.livejournal.com]

Well, so far I'm doing well with my (pre-New-Year) resolutions to develop a regular writing habit instead of being all flaky about it, and to have better sleep habits. I think your hand-washing idea is a GREAT one and intend to do it.

I highly recommend flossing. I started doing it at least every other night a few years ago, when I started college, and my teeth are so much better for it.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

It's rare that I can start a new good habit without first having to clean up the clutter of half a dozen bad habits occupying the same space!

[damned-colonial.livejournal.com]

OK, I went away for a few days and pondered my resolution for this year, and I think it's going to be "Never turn down an adventure."

[bruinsfan.livejournal.com]

I had two resolutions for 2007: lose weight and put more effort into getting laid. Amazing how succeeding at the former to the tune of 25 lbs. helped with the latter.