Since high school I have suffered with dysthymia, a mood disorder more commonly called chronic depression. The thoughts that go along with such a disorder, amidst the sadness, include feelings of being trapped in one’s life, loss of control, and low self-esteem. I lived with it for at least eight years. YIKES!

Throughout those eight years all I thought of was seeking an answer, an answer to life I knew was out there. It was something I felt, and the longer I was without it, the more deep and permanent my depression felt. It was frustrating to know that such a thing existed, but not know what it was. I began to tell myself there was no such answer and that life was just as it seemed. Luckily, my boyfriend and family never stopped telling me that things were meant to be better, and that I was here for even greater things. I couldn’t help but believe them – it was my only hope.

In the spring of this year, I studied abroad in Southern France. Being such a home-body, it was difficult at first, but I began to feel a sense of freedom and peace while away. I began to feel that things were going to be okay after all, and my experiences in France were going to bring answers.

I was right. A friend and fellow student, a retired man who also attended my university, was studying abroad as well, with him and his wife living in an apartment nearby. They gave me The Secret, telling me I could take from it what I wished and either keep it, throw it away, or give it to someone else. It was their desire to just pass on the message. I read it, and things suddenly made sense. I gave myself my own “feather” test, and believed it would manifest.

Upon returning, things started to spiral downwards for me again. I felt trapped financially and emotionally. One night, during an extremely emotional night, my boyfriend told me again that I was meant to have more, and more is what I would get. It made me feel a little better and reminded me of the book I had read in France. I decided to pick it up again.

Suddenly, as I began to read the book a second time, I really started to understand what I was reading. This was the answer I had been searching for.

One day my boyfriend and I were driving down a dirt road as I was reading through some of my favorite pages, when I looked up and saw my “feather”, a bird I had created in my mind while I was in France. Chills ran through my body, my mouth dropped open, and I was frozen with the realization of my power.

No miraculous thing has happened since that event two weeks ago. No big changes, no life-altering events, but I know they have already occurred, in my dreams and future manifestations. My skeptical friends and family cannot help but be happy for the message I have been talking about, because even THEY have noticed a change in me. I feel it. I feel it in my thoughts, my emotions, and even in my actions. Let’s just say the dysthymia has been eased by the Universe and the message that has been given to me.

I have become so grateful for all the Universe, or God, has brought me, and am so grateful for The Secret. Rhonda, you have given a gift to the world, and I hope to pass that on to all I can. We all deserve health, love, and abundance. Thank you for helping me see that. I’m so excited to be living my dream life now.