Good morning Reader,

Welcome to the 39th issue of The FAM.

I'm writing to you at 4:38 a.m. Eastern time from the parking lot of a Buc-ee's in Calhoun, Georgia—just 90 minutes before this lands in your inbox.

Yesterday morning, I got the not-so-surprising news that my mother's health had taken what we believe is the final turn for the worse. She is beginning her final journey here with us.

In the hours that followed, I rolled the RV out of storage, threw a summer's worth of clothes in the back, and loaded the refrigerator with Celsius, water, and the spinach and fruit I need for my morning smoothies.

At 1:11 yesterday, I pulled out of the driveway and headed south to Lakewood Ranch, Florida. I pulled into this Buc-ee's a little after 1:00 a.m. for a few hours of rest, and now it's time to get back on the road.

But I didn't want to miss my streak of landing in your inbox, and I wanted to share this beautiful thought.

The odds of my mother, you, and me being here—being alive—are one in 400 trillion.

As I drove yesterday, I tried to wrap my head around the sheer miracle of having a chance to live our lives at all. I used the speed of light to help me feel the scale.

Light circles the Earth more than seven times every second.

It takes light just over eight minutes to travel from the Sun to us.

And even at that unfathomable speed, light from the nearest star outside our solar system takes over four years to reach us.

And for light to travel 400 trillion miles? That’s about 68 years.

Which means this: the universe is vast beyond comprehension.

And our time inside it is small.

But it’s ours.

And this morning, in a Buc-ee’s parking lot, with my mother’s life turning toward its final chapter, I feel that truth deeply.

And that’s what has me in awe.

What a gift life is. What a gift my life - your life - is.

Sometimes life feels as fast as the speed of light, like we can't possibly keep up with everything. And sometimes we wake up in the middle of a Buc-ee's parking lot with the very essence of living life fully central in our minds.

When life gets heavy, I often come back to this lottery that I won: 1 in 400,000,000,000,000.

What a gift we have to experience it all.

So my wish for you this Sunday is that today you can take a deep breath, slow down your life for a moment, and feel the awe of where you are and who you are.

Because this life—with all its challenges, obligations, and joy—is truly beautiful.

As are you.

Dirk

We’re on a mission to empower one million people to live Fully Alive, and you’re one of them!