So I'm off to my semi-annual dentist appointment again.

Something happened to me when I walked into this dentist's office for the first time about 5 years ago. I became an adult. I realized that I am the only one who will make sure that I get my teeth cleaned regularly, I am the primary card holder on the insurance card. The reason I had gone to the dentist in the first place was because someone who berely knew me (my primary care physician) had told me that I needed to go to the dentist (I'm guessing my breath was that bad - ouch.) Anyway, up until that time, I had always gone to my childhood dentist in Cleveland, usually when I was home between semesters or in the summer if my mom had pestered me enough to make me pick up the phone and make an appointment. Up until I moved to Baltimore, I had relied on my mom to remind me about those kind of things. Once I moved to Baltimore (actually I think this happened as soon as I graduated from college), my mom never asked me if I had gone to the dentist so I had completely forgotten about it (or was too lazy to deal with it). I realized that I now had complete control over whether or not I went to the doctor, went to the dentist, got my hair cut. No one was going to tell me I needed to do those things (I didn't want to have a stranger tell me I needed to go to the dentist ever again). So my next step was to do all the logistical stuff: find a dentist, call to ask if they accepted my insurance, figure out where the office is, and show up on time. I can still remember at the end of my first appointment when the receptionist asked me when I wanted to schedule my next appointment, and I told her, oh, I'll just call as it gets closer. And then she had to educate me about how his schedule gets booked really early and it might be a good idea to get the appointment on the schedule sooner than later. So I realized that everyone else must plan ahead their dentist appointments this early, so if everyone else does it I guess I better follow suit. So I scheduled the next appointment, a completely foreign concept to have anything scheduled that was 6 months away. During my first couple years in the corporate world I learned that you had to plan early, had to schedule vacations ahead of time so you could get the time you needed off. So I asked for a palm pilot for Christmas that same year. And everything started to go in the Palm Pilot. I even bring the palm pilot to the dentist's office now so I can schedule my next appointment.

So earlier this week I was scheduling my entire year and thinking about how my life has changed since that first dentist appointment. I'm setting goals for myself that are years away now and I have events that are 8 months away (including my next dentist appointment). While I do miss the times where I didn't even use a calendar, planner, or palm pilot (and the spontaneity that allows), I know that all this planning pays off in the end - it has helped me and will continue to help me to reach all of my goals. Off to the dentist!