I watched the Oprah show on The Secret while in the depths of despair about my life and the situation I was in. At the time I was facing foreclosure on our home, our family vehicle was repossessed, and I had recently lost a baby while 6 months pregnant. I weighed 218lbs and hadn’t shown my face in a photograph in years, I despised myself and hated my life. It’s all I focused on and thought about, day in and day out.

The thing that struck me the most about the show, was the part about not focusing on the “how it will happen” but instead on the joy and assurance that IT WILL HAPPEN, who cares how! It took me a long time to get my head around that and let go of the doubt. The other thing that stuck with me was that thoughts, lead to feelings and they are like a never ending circle. What you think will happen, and it WAS! But not in a positive way.

So to start I made a vision board, mainly because for the first time in my life I felt like a carefree child, lost in “what if,” and possibility; it brought surprising joy in its creation.

My board: a women running/doing yoga, photos of places I dreamed to go (I hadn’t left the house or the state in years!) NYC, Disneyland, a tropical island, LA, Vegas, a home, and of course financial freedom, something I have never experienced and couldn’t even imagine, so I put up pictures, Jimmy Choo shoes, LV bags, a Benz.

A year or so later when my husband of 8 years left me and our 3 babies (I’d recently had twin girls), for another women, the last thing I was thinking about was “how great my life is with The Secret”. Up to that point, nothing good had happened (it had been a year since I’d originally seen the show). But occasionally I would look at that board inside my closet, and think “gosh wouldn’t that be nice!”. I had never displayed my board in a place where I could openly see it, because I was ashamed to dream that big.

But when he left, I was immediately forced to sell all we owned to feed my children, and try to survive. I didn’t have a single penny to my name. I had been a stay-at-home mom, so bank accounts, cars, leases any access to funds was all in his name, and he was, from the moment he left, unwilling to help in any way. The day he left rent was due and I was out of formula and diapers for the babies. We had NOTHING.

But when I got my first job a few months later, and moved us into a tiny 2 bedroom apt I began to feel slightly empowered. As now a single working mom, I realized that it was up to me to create the life I wanted for myself and my children, I no longer had someone else’s disapproval or limits placed on my potential. So I took my vision board to work and set it on my desk. It was impossible not to look at it every day and dream. I loved how happy it made me looking at those images, and how focused and dedicated it made me to my job. As I changed jobs, got promoted, it went with me everywhere, more photos were added. I loved people asking me about it. I changed my attitude, I said “yep those are the things I’m gonna do one day, those are my goals, I don’t work for nothing!”

One day about a year ago, (I’d recently been promoted to a new role within my company) and as I was packing up my desk for a business trip NYC, I glanced up and saw my board. I had just the day before come back from a trip to LA. I got chills as I realized that I’d just seen 2 of those dreams come true and I hadn’t spent a dime! My original board had a picture of the Hollywood sign, which I’d actually seen on my trip the day before, and a photo of Times Square, both had seemed like ridiculous pipe dreams when I put them on my board. When I created that board I could barely afford groceries so to think I would be going to there was like thinking I would win the lottery. But the most beautiful part to me is that NOT only did I go, but the trips cost me NOTHING.

That upcoming weekend I was planning to meet my lifelong girlfriend in Manhattan for a girl’s weekend. We had first planned this trip as 12 year old girls, but it was a dream I could have never been able to afford to do. In the middle of that weekend, as we were exiting a Broadway show, and walked through Times Square on our way to one of NY hottest restaurants for dinner, I looked at her and said “OMG, this is our weekend!! This is what we have always planned! And I have not spent a single penny!” It was another ‘chills moment’ for me.

Because of my frequent travel I earned enough miles to take my son to Hawaii last summer, which was a trip of a lifetime for us. Again the realization of one of my vision board pictures, and one where the majority of the cost I didn’t even pay for. Shortly after that trip I had a business trip in Vegas, the photo of Vegas on my board has the Paris Hotel in it, and when I got back to work and looked at that photo it dawned on me that I had actually stayed at The Paris Hotel, which was booked by my company! CHILLS!

I signed up to train for the Portland marathon in October (there was a picture of “26.2” on my board back when I was overweight), and I am now near my goal weight. I’m the Exec Director of a software company in Portland Oregon, when I was a stay-at-home mom two years ago. I travel to the biggest cities and speak at industry events, it’s truly remarkable! I’m watching my life open up before my eyes…it is literately mind-blowing and life changing. I pinch myself daily!

I think that the most amazing thing about my story, is that everything I mentioned above are things that ‘just happened’. I didn’t sign up for the marathon thinking, “oh that’s on my board I better do that”, instead my girlfriend talked me into it and I said “sure, why not!”. It was later I realized it was on my board. It’s been that way with every single thing. My attitude has completely changed. I now BELIEVE with every fiber of my soul that anything and everything is possible, and that the life I dream of (one rich with love, travel, family and stability) WILL BE MINE. I’m not sure when or how and I don’t care! I’ll work my butt off in the mean time and watch my life open up like a treasure chest, showing me the beauty of possibility.

That one point has been so true, because when my life hit rock bottom, fell apart, I would have never guessed that it was the law of attraction freeing me from the cycle of misery in my old life; the universe knew it was the best thing for me. I believe that when I first learned of The Secret, even though it took me about a year to start believing, it was able to open my mind to attract all the good that is now a part of the rebirth of my new life. I feel everyday like I’m living a dream, I’ve had to update my board and expand my dreams. The sky is truly the limit! And the only limits are the ones we put into our own heads, so without that we are free to shoot for and GET to the moon!

Thank you for changing my life!

P.S. I now drive a Benz by the way!