Yesterday marked one year alcohol-free for me.
I can’t believe it’s been that long.
If you know me, you’ll know there was nothing I enjoyed more than a glass of red with my girlfriends or sisters… or an Amarula on ice around the fire on a trip to the bush.
I didn’t set out with a huge goal in mind. At first, I decided I’d drink on just this one weekend. That became a week. Then a month. Then I tried my first holiday without it, Namibia, and I did it.
And now here I am. One year later.
I thought I’d celebrate. I thought I’d jump up and down. But it just quietly slipped by. Not without reflection, though.
It’s just slowly become who I am.
And in a way, the same thing has happened in our business.
For a long time, I was one version of myself. That version worked… until it didn’t anymore.
Now I chase freedom.
Freedom to create.
Freedom to work on things that light me up.
Freedom to spend my time on what matters, not on things that drain me.
That’s why our goal has never been “make more so we can buy more.”
It’s been “make enough so we can be present, happy, and able to choose how we spend our days.”
Right now, I’m in the middle of an “office renovation.” Which sounds fancy. It’s not.
No big budget. No shiny new furniture.
Just me, some paint, a screwdriver, and a few cans of spray paint from the hardware store.
I did the same with River’s room recently.
One painted wall. A blind I had made. Spray-painted lamps.
Small, simple changes. But they made the whole space feel different.
A friend came over the other day and said, “Your house has such a lovely flow. You’re so lucky.”
I smiled, but in my head I thought… lucky?
Lucky didn’t spray-paint those lamps.
Lucky didn’t glue-gun those old frames back together.
Lucky didn’t move the cupboard so I could actually use my dining table for eating again.
Life never gives me perfect conditions to do things.
I’ve never had a moment where I thought, “Wow, I have extra time, extra money, and zero other priorities, let’s renovate.”
Because there’s always something else. London’s braces. River’s shoes. A bill we didn’t see coming.
If I waited for the right time, I’d still be waiting.
So instead, I do one small thing at a time.
Spray the lamp today.
Pull out the cupboard tomorrow.
Shift the desk next week.
And before I know it, the space works better.
People walk in and say, “You’re so lucky.”
But it’s not luck. It’s using what I have, over and over again.
That’s the same way we’ve built our business.
Not waiting for the perfect moment or the perfect budget.
Just starting with what we’ve got and making it work for the life we want.
If you’ve been putting something off until you have “more,” maybe the question isn’t when that day will come.
Maybe it’s… what’s one thing you can do today, with what you have, to make it better?
Because sometimes, that’s the only way it gets done.
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