Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, half of 2019 has come and gone. Now as this post is being read, more of this year is slipping passed us. It’s scary to think of how real the cliche that “time flies” has become and that time is moving faster than we are.

I looked back on a number of goals that I set for myself for 2019 – professionally and creatively, for my own health and desire to travel. I’ve managed to take the trip of a lifetime and am chalking that up as a win for the year as far as travel goes. But when it comes to the other areas, I haven’t made yoga a routine, or researched a good triathlon to do. I haven’t gotten a piece of writing published, or been consistently writing for this blog – I’ve barely written at all.

I’ve always mentioned to my therapist how I feel like I’ve wasted time. I’m now 28 and I feel like I’ve let so much time pass me by without accomplishing what I’ve wanted. I envision where I should be and am not there yet. It’s frustrating. Her response was that timing has a way of working itself out. We can never really measure accomplishments on a time table, because we never can anticipate what life will throw at us; what unexpected circumstances we need to experience without even knowing we need to. And yet somehow life has a way of working it all out for us.

As I reflect on this halfway mark of the year, I think about how arbitrary our concept of time really is.  How we feel the need to measure up by a certain deadline. Then I realized that life isn’t a semester project. Instead of rushing to get the work done, I began to slowly understand that life, its lessons and what I’ve wanted to accomplish, and in turn what I’ve wanted my life to look like, has its way of coming to you when the timing is right. Call it God working in mysterious ways, or the universe putting the puzzle pieces together – whatever it is – I’ve come to appreciate life not as a to-do list of what needs to get done and by when, but rather as a road with no destination in mind, only curious anticipation and the desire to make the most of each step that’s taken.

I want to live life not in a rush to the next accomplishment, but I want to enjoy the wins for the work and effort it took to get it in the first place. I want to take a trip not to take it off a bucket list, but to enjoy the sights, sounds and tastes of something I may never experience again. I want to accomplish something not for the recognition, but rather because its is the passion that pumps my blood, fills my lungs, and puts a smile on my face. I want to live my life with purpose, not with expectation.

So as this halfway mark of the year hits us, instead of checking in on your goals as some thermometer tracking progress, ask yourself are you happier, more fulfilled and feel a greater sense of purpose in your life? If not, you may want to change just how you are evaluating your success. I hope you’ll use this checkpoint to remind yourself that you have the time to make the changes you want, to experience what you want, and to let life surprise you in some pretty incredible ways. You have the time. Take it.