Halfway Day

 

Well, would you look at that. We’ve made it. Not to enlightenment. But to Halfway Day…that curious moment in the year when we collectively pause, blink at the calendar, and mutter, “How is it July already?”

2nd July is the 183rd day of a non-leap year, which means we are slap-bang in the middle. Which means: we’re officially teetering on the midpoint. The year’s glass is half full… or half empty, depending on whether you’ve met your New Year’s resolutions or conveniently forgotten them.

Back in January, I had grand plans. I bought a fancy planner. It had gold-foiled quotes, stickers, and the faint smell of hope. I wrote things like “Run 5K three times a week,” and “Eat more kale.” It’s July now. The planner has become a coaster. The only running I do is after the ice cream van, and kale remains, quite rightly, suspiciously absent from my diet.

But that’s the thing about halfway marks…they’re a chance to reflect without the pressure of a fresh start. It’s not about reinvention; it’s about gentle recalibration. It’s the perfect time to pause, take stock, and maybe laugh at ourselves a bit. The year so far might’ve been messy, but it’s been lived. That counts. That absolutely counts.

Halfway Day reminds us we’re not quite where we planned to be, but we’re not where we were either. Somewhere between hope and hilarity, we’ve clocked six months of real, ordinary, splendid life; burnt toast, traffic jams, surprise rain, spontaneous hugs, laundry that multiplies when no one’s looking, and that one glorious evening when everyone liked the dinner and nobody cried.

So today, I’m not making new resolutions. I’m just going to pause and smile at the mess, the progress, the surprising resilience of us all. If you’re still upright, still showing up, still laughing now and then…congratulations. You’ve made it to the halfway point. Celebrate accordingly. Put your feet up. Have a biscuit. Maybe even one of the good ones, the ones you’ve been hiding at the back of the cupboard.

Happy Halfway Day. Let the second half of the year be gentler, funnier, and slightly more organised. Or not. Either way, we’ve got this. Sort of.