Halfway Through 2026…
Greeting dear friends & fellow navigators, & welcome to my world this week. Do you realize we are already halfway through 2026? It went by so fast, do you agree? It feels like half the year disappeared in the blink of an eye. So, how are we all doing?
I still remember New Years’ eve last year, sitting under the table umbrella eating grapes while desperately trying to think of my plans for the forthcoming year. Most things requiring noting today & were detailed, however, while having clear goals is a good thing, reality rarely follows the plan.
During my working life, whenever I fell behind or failed to do something exactly as I had planned, I became disappointed in myself. As much as being self-disciplined & accountable, the older I get, the more I find myself questioning what I am truly pursuing in this life.
Are these goals really what I want, or are they what I think people expect me to want? Are they necessary, or have I simply convinced myself they are? Do I really need to get there as fast as possible, until I forget to breathe? Or is it okay to walk a little slower, enjoy the view occasionally, knowing I will
eventually arrive anyway?
This year, I deliberately reevaluated the way I live. I tried to understand myself a little better. So, for 2026, I wrote things like this: “Keep my mind & body health,” as I have for the past 41 years…
“Seek connection with clarity, not urgency.” “Do more of what I love.” “Stay inspired & never stop creating.” They are only slightly different from my old goals, but somehow, they changed the way I approached my life, & surprisingly, the first half of 2026 has been going quite well.
I think I have reached a few milestones with my writing. I have made a few meaningful connections. I have moved my body, sometimes a little too much, sometimes not at all, simply listening to what it needed. Finally, I have stopped turning my life into a checklist of deadlines & timelines. Of course, I still fall into comparison spirals sometimes. I still catch myself wondering whether I am wasting my life. I still get mad at myself for not doing “enough.” Although to be fair, my currently injury issues have been entirely frustrating… Regretfully, old habits do not disappear overnight.
But now, whenever those thoughts come back, I remind myself I get to choose what counts as success.
My success might look like finishing a piece of writing I am proud of. Maybe it looks like saying no without feeling the need to overexplain. Maybe it looks like posting something without the usual anxiety afterward. Maybe it is choosing vegetables over junk food or allowing myself to rest without convincing
myself I am lazy or unproductive.
By my own definition of success, I like to think I am already on track. No, I am not replacing ambition with complacency or calling laziness “self-care.” I still have measurable goals. I still care about growing. But I have become more flexible in how I define a good year, & the funny thing is, loosening my grip did
not make me less productive. Rather, it made me more present.
I stopped chasing goals because I was afraid of falling behind & started pursuing them because they genuinely mattered to me. I spent years racing against time. The last four years & five months, I have finally started walking beside it.
Maybe being on track is not always about how far you have gone or have come. Maybe it is simply knowing you are walking toward a life & it feels like your own. Even if it is slowly.
Just few observations again dear friends & provide an opinion in my world. Thank you for stopping by, I appreciate your being here. If my journey encourages you also, all is well with my soul. Looking forward to next week; this is Kenn Butler in Paradise, Nelson with best wishes.
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