Every December I pause and gather the threads of my year.

It’s a lovely ritual, and I’m noticing I start earlier and earlier - maybe because the rush of Christmas can quickly give way to ‘back to work’, or because it feels so dark so early, or simply because it’s a nice thing to do.

It’s absolutely not about looking ahead yet, or creating goals or resolutions - it’s about looking back to see the journey.

In previous years I’ve focused a lot on finding the story of it - looking fully at the ups, the downs, the learning, the insights, the implications.

This year I’m appreciating how powerful it is to simply look back and see what happened, from the start to right now.

So much happens each day, but it’s easy to lose track of how it all adds up when we’re in it.

It’s the middle of the year.

A half way point.

A beautiful time to take a step back and look both ways.

To appreciate the progress you’ve made so far, to focus on what’s to come.

When we’re busy in our lives and work, we can forget to pause, to see the bigger picture, to put things into perspective.

And yet it’s so important.

One of my favourite quotes from Danielle North sums this up, “If you never stop to ask yourself how you are doing, how will you ever really know where you are going?”

Scrolling back through photos recently I found this, taken by my daughter as I attempted to recreate a teenage eye roll.

It made me laugh. And also perfectly summed up how I felt (and most likely what I looked like) when my coach first asked me the hardest questions I find to answer:

What do you want to acknowledge yourself for?

What skills or qualities about yourself are you celebrating?

Does it sometimes feel as though your to do list is never ending?

That as fast as you tick something off, new actions are crowding their way in?

That you’ll never get to the end of it?

You’re not alone.