And the sunset moment that reminded me why
Hey love,
I’m writing this week’s letter while sitting on a balcony overlooking the ocean in Ensenada, watching the sun slowly slide down toward the water. The air is warm, the sky is turning those soft sunset colors that make you pause for a minute…and I’m surrounded by my kids.
Steven is here.
Talia is here.
Shyla is here.
And Steven’s girlfriend Kaitlyn came along too.
Earlier today we were out riding ATVs along dusty trails with my friends who live down here. Yesterday we wandered through a little beach town, eating fresh food and laughing about absolutely nothing important. I paid for the meals, the activities, the little moments that make up a weekend like this.
And as I sat here tonight, watching the sunset, something really struck me. Not just gratitude… but acknowledgement. One of my favorite tools.
Because years ago, this exact life would have been completely impossible for me.
There was a time when my husband and I had hit what I can only describe as financial rock bottom. Every account was overdrawn. Bills were stacked up. I didn’t know how I was going to put groceries on the table.
It was that kind of moment. And in the middle of that chaos, my brother, Dain, suggested something that sounded almost ridiculous at the time.
He asked me to take 30 minutes a day for myself. No matter what. Thirty minutes that were just for me.
At first it felt almost irresponsible. How could I possibly take time for myself when everything around me felt like it was falling apart?
But I did it. And what that tiny choice did was something I didn’t expect. It started including me back in my own life.
Before that, I had been so busy surviving that I had almost disappeared from my own world. But those thirty minutes began to open a little space again, and in that space I started to see more clearly what I wanted to create.
I even remember a little ritual I had back then. Any time I got into the car and I was alone, I would absolutely blast this Ne-Yo song called “Miss Independent.”
And there are two lines in that song that I used to scream-sing at the top of my lungs: “Her favorite thing to say is don’t worry I got it…and everything she got, best believe she bought it.”
Now, at the time, that was not my reality. I had been with my husband since I was nineteen years old. I was thirty-five then. And I honestly didn’t know what it felt like to be financially independent, even though I deeply wanted that experience.
But something about singing those lyrics felt like reaching forward into a future version of me.
I would shout those words and feel this strange mix of longing, determination, and gratitude for a life that didn’t exist yet. And somewhere in there, things started to change.
The day after I committed to taking those thirty minutes for myself, I went out into my backyard and started watching YouTube videos from Dain’s channel. That tiny moment shifted the trajectory of my life in ways I could never have predicted.
Then I discovered the Access Consciousness tools. And somewhere along the way, step by step, choice by choice… life began to open up.
I didn’t notice the change all at once. But tonight, sitting here in Mexico watching my kids laugh together after a day of adventure, I suddenly saw it.
The woman who once screamed those lyrics in her car hoping life would change… is now the woman paying for family trips, dinners, experiences, and creating memories with the people she loves.
And here’s the thing that made me stop and breathe for a second. None of that momentum happened because of one giant breakthrough. It happened because of acknowledgement.
Because every time something shifted, every time a small piece of life opened up, I allowed myself to notice it. To acknowledge it. Acknowledgement is like fuel.
When we acknowledge even the smallest change, it keeps the engine running. It reminds us that movement is happening. It builds momentum in a way that pushing and striving never quite can.
And tonight, sitting here watching the sunset with the sound of the ocean below me, I’m acknowledging the woman I used to be… the one blasting that Ne-Yo song in the car… the one who started with thirty minutes a day and a willingness to include herself again.
Because without her, none of this would exist.
🌟 Your Add Wonder Tools
This week, play with acknowledgement in your own life.
Not the big dramatic achievements. The little ones.
- Where in your life have things already begun to change, even if you haven’t stopped to notice?
- What choices have you made that are quietly moving your life forward?
- What if acknowledging those moments could become the fuel that carries you into the next chapter?
- And what might shift if you took just a moment today to acknowledge yourself… exactly where you are right now?
Until next time, may you keep choosing the adventures that future-you will sit back and acknowledge someday…
P.S. I don’t usually add invitations in Add Wonder, but after writing this week’s letter I realized how much acknowledgement has truly fueled the changes in my life.
I’m facilitating a call on March 26th called Your Victory Fuel: Acknowledgement to explore this tool a little more together. It's $10 and I’d love to have you there. Sign up here.
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