appreciation

You already have everything you need to be happy and fulfilled in this moment.

How does that resonate with you? Do you believe it? Or are you rolling your eyes, thinking, *Marine is nice, but completely wrong?*

Take a moment to sit with this. Have a real reality check right now. Do you have food in your fridge? A roof over your head? A job that pays the bills? Friends? Family? Health?

It’s not about saying, *Yes, I have a job, but it sucks,* or *I’m healthy, but I still want to lose 10 pounds,* or any of the other things your ego might want to fix. I’m not asking you to connect with your ego. The ego will always find something wrong. I’m asking you to connect with your gut, your heart, your body, and your feelings.

In that moment—when you take a few deep breaths and connect with your true self—you’ll see that you *do* have everything you need.

Even if you feel stuck in a job you hate, in that moment, you have the capacity to look for something else. The same goes for your health, your living situation, or your relationships. Abundance is everywhere.

What I want you to understand is that I’m not invalidating what you’re feeling right now, but I am reminding you that you *still* have the power. You are the solution, and everything you need is right here, in front of you, in this moment.

When you practice appreciation for *what is*—which is a central part of Family Constellations therapy—you begin to breathe deeper. Your body releases tension, your shoulders drop, and you start to feel empowered, because you realize that you are in charge.

This is called surrendering and trusting. I’m not a master at it by any means! I learn every day. A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with my friend Mary, and she shared the exact same wisdom I’m sharing with you now. My first instinct was to reject it. I wanted to bathe in my victim mindset, hoping to be "saved." But here’s the truth: If you keep playing that card, you’ll never be saved.

It reminds me of the story about the man waiting for God to save him.

There was a man stranded at sea after a shipwreck, the only survivor. He prayed for God to save him. Soon, a boat came by offering help. “No thanks,” he said, “I’m waiting for God to save me.” The boat left. Later, another boat came by, offering the same help. Again, he declined, saying, “I’m waiting for God to save me.” Eventually, the man lost faith and died. When he reached Heaven, he asked God, “Why didn’t you answer my prayers? Why didn’t you save me?” And God replied, “I did. I sent you two boats.”

This story is a metaphor about how we often expect help to come in a certain way, and how we resist accepting the help that’s right in front of us. When you let go of your expectations and assumptions, that’s when true transformation happens.

I want to share an honest moment with you: It’s been a year of searching for my perfect place to live. I dreamed of a cottage or a Spanish bungalow—it seemed easier to find in LA than in Miami. But Miami is home for me, for so many reasons. It was the first place I landed when I was 23. It’s warm, it’s where my chosen family is, and I know it like the back of my hand.

When I finally surrendered and stopped forcing myself to find something that wasn’t right for me, I opened my mind to new possibilities. And that’s when I found it—my cottage. The moment I saw the porch with sun and moon tiles, I knew it was meant to be. Honestly, I didn’t want to see that place at first. It didn’t match my exact vision. But something inside told me to go see it anyway. Had I waited for something else, I might have missed this gift.

Sometimes, the gift or vision is different from what we expect. Often, it’s even better than what we could have imagined.

That year of searching taught me so much. It helped me shed the parts of myself that were still co-dependent and allowed me to make decisions about my future from a place of appreciation, not fear. I still feel like Bambi learning to walk on ice, but deep down, I know this year brought me closer to my true self and the woman I am meant to become.

I hope whatever 2024 has brought you has been good for your soul, and that now you can see you are exactly where you're supposed to be.

Thank you for your continued trust in my work and practice. And there’s more to come—I’m going back to school next year to study a new modality that changed everything for me in 2023. I’ll share more soon.

Have a wonderful new month and take a moment to celebrate this year. You did it!

Much Love, 
Marine Sélénée