The internet tells me that people are not only making a New Year’s resolution for this New Year but that they are picking words for 2018; a single word in some cases or an entire sentence crammed together devoid of spaces like a social media hashtag.
Others are simply doing the old school New Year’s resolution thang: ’get healthy’, ‘quit smoking’, ‘stop caring about the Kardashians’ are as popular as ever…and as likely as ever not to make it to February — oh my, just what did that Khloe do now!?
Rarely ever have I granted a New Year that much power over me and my actions/inaction but this year, 2018, the year in which I officially get older (suddenly I’m 42!), I’m making an esoteric decision to question my own personal conventions.
Like, why do I use that kind of toothpaste?
Is there another brand of lightly salted peanuts I’d prefer more?
Am I banking there simply because it is too much of a PITA to switch even though another financial institution actually offers better service and smarter products for me and my fledgling small freelance writing business?
Getting old can be a trap, capturing us in our habits — good, bad and indifferent — meaning we might get literally stuck on the couch or buried in a rut of unquestioned routine. My 2018 New Year’s resolution is to not let that happen. This is my own way of getting healthier.
I seriously don’t know why I use the toothpaste I do. I really don’t. I bought it once, years ago, probably because, knowing me, I found the package or the typeface or its color pattern on the box pleasing — I have always been an art & design nerd. And I liked it the way it tasted, obviously, and have grown comfortable with the routine of buying it; meaning, I know exactly what it looks like and on what shelf it can be found at my local grocery store.
But this year, that kind of easy, unthought of (see, that’s one word per the 2018 resolution trend!) comfort is no longer going to be good enough. I’m getting back to questioning authority more, like I did as a more-punk-rock kid, and questioning my own habits at every turn.
I’m starting my 2018 resolution, my year of questioning everything I do, in the toothpaste aisle and in front of my master bath vanity, with Crest® Gum DetoxifyTM. Why? Well, because my teeth and gums are in need of help…I need a gum detox.
Now, I’m a travel writer and kind of a travel addict at this point, so how is this esoteric New Year’s resolution of mine seeping into that part of my life? Because, c’mon, a resolution has to be bigger than switching toothpastes.
Norway, that’s how.
Norway is how this question everything resolution is manifesting itself in my travel addiction.
I’ve longed to see Iceland but other than saying in a CAPS LOCK voice, ‘IT LOOKS SO BEAUTIFUL!’, I couldn’t really tell ya why I wanted to spend time there. Nowadays, everyone I know seems to be going, or saying they want to go to Iceland. So my family will be zigging away to Norway in ’18 while others zag to Iceland. Because Norway isn’t Iceland and it too LOOKS SO BEAUTIFUL!
And when we get to Norway in March, #ForGumsSake my teeth will be glistening like the snowcapped Fjords and Norwegian glacial ice, and my gums will be healthier than ever before, because the word is that Crest® Gum DetoxifyTM, with its specially formulated Activated Foam technology that reaches below the gum line, and significantly improves gum health.
No more coasting through another year on the crutch of my unquestioned habits: new toothpaste in my shopping cart, new countries to visit, new ideas to challenge the old.
QuestionEverythingIncludingMyRoutinesAndTheSmallDecisionsIMakeEveryDay.
There, internet, that’s my word for 2018, you happy now?
This story was sponsored by Crest and the new Crest® Gum DetoxifyTM toothpaste. All opinions expressed above are honest and unbiased, as always. I have indeed switched my toothpaste, we are indeed heading to Norway in March, and I’m asking ‘but, why?’ a heck of a lot more than I have in years.