I was born into a poor Cypriot family in North London in 1979. I was the youngest of three sisters until my younger brother was born six years later. My parents struggled financially throughout my childhood. They worked in a shoe factory from morning to night just to make ends meet. My father liked to drink and socialize with his friends. He was the head of the house and whatever he said was final. He was prejudice against women and this hatred for women was inflicted continuously upon me. Throughout my childhood I felt unworthy and unlovable because I was a girl. My mother was the servant of the house whose job was to keep my father happy while taking care of four kids and all the chores around the house. Due to their financial struggles and many other issues, our family home environment was anything but loving and affectionate.

I began secondary school at age eleven. After school, my siblings and I would head straight to the shoe factory to work with my parents until late in the evening before heading home where my mother would cook and clean, and my siblings and I would do our homework. This lifestyle began to take its toll on me. At school, my grades dropped and I became a straight D and F student. I adopted a rebellious nature and would skip classes. I started to build up a lot of resentment, anger, and hatred toward my family and society. I was miserable and hated my life, and at the age of thirteen, I run away from home. I remember traveling for hours by bus and train to get as far away from my family as possible. That same evening, I was found by a social worker sleeping on a bench outside a train station miles from my home.

The very next day, I was sent to a foster home. The first night at my new home, I sat in bed in the dark and cried for hours. This was a sorrowful time in my life. I started to build up a lot of fear, mistrust, and self-worth issues. Two months later I went back home to live with my biological parents but nothing had changed. Resentment was running free on both sides which led to even more anger inside my family home. From then on, the relationship between myself and my parents was terrible, and it wasn’t long before our relationship turned vicious.

Not long after, the whole family moved to Cyprus to live a better life. I hated living in Cyprus as I had left behind the only school friends I had. I became uncontrollable and would continually run away from home. Each time my father found me, he brought me back, but I would run away again. Late one evening, at the age of fifteen, I runaway for the last time. This time, my father never came to find me which is what I wanted.

I hitched a ride to another city far away. I had no money, no friends, and no idea where I was going. That same day, I got myself a job as a waitress. However, within a few months, alcohol and marijuana abuse became a part of my daily life. These substances suppressed my fears, resentment, hate, and anger. They hid my lack of self-worth, my lack of self-love, and my lack of self-confidence. Little did I know that that lifestyle was the beginning of a ten-year uphill battle with heroin and crack.

During this period of substance abuse, I got sexually abused. My life was falling apart as I went from disaster to disaster. Shortly after, I got arrested for drug possession, and upon my release my parents insisted that I move back in with them. I didn’t want to but I had nowhere else to go.

A couple of months later, I was in a car accident. I remember waking up in a hospital with facial injuries, severe drug withdrawal symptoms and deep depression. I felt exhausted and lost. Due to this unfortunate accident piling up on my already existing dysfunctional life, I contemplated suicide. As I feared for my life, I signed myself into a psychiatric institution and from then on I was in and out of hospitals.

Some years later, I moved back to North London with a family member to start treatment programs but nothing worked. I overdosed many times. I hated that my family saw me in this uncontrollable state. And although they were supportive, I still abandoned my family home due to overwhelming guilt, shame and confusion. Before I knew it, I found myself homeless on the streets of London where I remained for two years. I was sleeping on street corners, abandoned sheds and even waste areas. To survive, I turned to shoplifting which got me imprisoned twice.

Upon my release from prison, I returned to Cyprus for therapy with the financial help of a family member. For six months, I was taking prescribed medication which made me severely depressed. I became out of control, and once again, I contemplated suicide. I knew that my life depended on me taking the right steps toward recovery. The next two months were the most challenging transition I have ever encountered and despite my many setbacks, I’d managed to make minor changes in my life.

Some months later during a family gathering, I was told about ‘The Secret,’ and it could not have come at a better time. My family member lent me their copy of the book until I ordered my own.

I went home that evening and immediately started to read, and as I read, I felt a powerful force drawing me closer and closer. I didn’t want to put the book down. ‘The Secret’ was the very first book I had ever read from cover to cover. After I read the book, I reread it. ‘The Secret’ just seemed so magical, so enlightening, and so much needed at the time. Clarity entered my life like a light shining in my path. I began to experience significant transitions and I loved it. I knew right there and then that I had started a new chapter in my life, and it felt great.

My life changed the day I read ‘The Secret.’ I began soul-searching and started reading self-development and self-healing books, and that’s when my healing journey began. Day-by-day, I was restoring my mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being. I started to regain balance and vitality. ‘The Secret’ was helping me to become whole again.

I continued to go from strength to strength. I taught myself to read and write fluently, and began blogging for two Cyprus magazines and was awarded Best Blogger Award for spreading positive energy to the readers. That was the least I could do to give back to society.

I was loving the new me and I ordered myself a copy of ‘The Power,’ ‘Hero,’ The Magic,’ How The Secret Changed My Life,’ and ‘The Secret Daily Teachings.’ I read these books often.

One year later, I met the love of my life and with his financial help, I enrolled in a Psychology course and qualified in Emotional Intelligence. I continued to go from one accomplishment to another. Since then, I have studied a variety of healing modalities and qualified as a Master Healer. I later received my diploma in Neuro-Linguistic Programming. I continued my studies and trained as a Hypnotherapist. From there on, I opened my practice and saw clients on a professional level. I introduce people to the Law of Attraction that has positively changed my life forever.

Thank you.