Solstice. Simultaneously the longest and the shortest day of the year*, it’s a moment of symbolic cosmic importance. It marks the (arbitrary) orbitary halfway point around the sun, and so shall I.

2018 was supposed to be the year of living S.M.A.R.T.ly. How have I fared in achieving my goals thus far?

Fitness? Hampered by injuries I did a runstreak in the beginning of the year, running for 100 days straight, culminating in the Paris marathon. I made it through. Just. I simply didn’t have enough long runs, something which my injuries had prevented me from bagging.

Then one month later the Brussels 20k – which I ran with no preparation – finally did me in. My Achilles’ tendon proved to be my Achilles’ tendon, so no running for another month (and counting). That bodes ill for my overall running goal, but I did have a backup plan, so biking and weights it is. There, I’m on track.

Challenges? Apart from the runstreak I’ve done a month of intermittent fasting, which went well and felt good, and I’ve given up coffee entirely and alcohol just about (I’ve probably drunk the alcoholic equivalent of three bottles of wine this year in order not to become a social outcast, but I can live with that kind of consumption).

Travels? Morocco, Egypt and the Seychelles are in the bag. Next up, the Dolomites, and then hopefully Norway, followed by Denmark.

Reading? I’ve read nine non-fiction books so far, so I’m ahead of the curve there (the goal was one book per month). Of the ones I’ve read, five have been real eye-openers and come with the highest recommendation:

The inner life of animals – there really is no excuse for how we treat them,

Guns, germs and steel – a brief history of everyone for the last 13,000 years,

King Leopold’s Ghost – there really is no excuse for how whites exploited blacks,

No is not enough – there really is no excuse for how Trump et al exploit everything, and

Recovery – how to free yourself from addiction.

Chess? I managed to get to almost 1500 in my rating (rather than 1400, which was the initial ambition). I’m sorry to report I have since dropped back down to the 1300 mark, but this shows it can be done, so I will persevere.

Piano? Yep. I’ve been working diligently, and have learnt several new pieces. None by heart, but still.

French? This is where I come up short. I haven’t been disciplined enough to actually seek out and learn anything like as many as 100 new words per month. in my defence I just passed an aptitude test, allowing me to learn Danish in Denmark this summer, so maybe French can be put on the back burner for a bit…

And that’s it. Three trips and three challenges in six months, on schedule. Other goals coming along nicely for the most part. Some fluctuation and changed plans, which always happens, but on the whole I’m on track. The sun can keep on spinning.**

 

 

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*It’s the shortest if you live in the Southern Hemisphere, so here’s a shoutout to all my readers in Australia, who currently number in the single digit. As in one. Hi Sophia!

** solstice means “sun-stop”. It was observed and named back when people had a more earth-centric view of the universe…