It is amazing to me how just a shift in self-talk can change your whole life in ways that – with limited thinking – you would never imagine happening to you. I love to hear and pass along stories about how with something as simple as a shift in thought, life can quickly become amazing.
At one point in my life, I had been laid off from my job. My husband was a full time student and we went from a fairly lucrative income to unemployment. I had just given birth to my fifth child only weeks earlier. Needless to say, panic had struck in my household.
I am the fifth child of seven. The family I grew up in is a very traditional family. They are set in their ways of thinking and any New Age beliefs that I may hold are in no way in their vocabulary. Immediately I was bombarded with ideas of poverty and fear from an otherwise loving family…frequently and with great conviction. I began to believe them, only WORSE! I started taking their ideas as my own.
No job interviews. No money coming in. Unemployment ran out. Five hungry mouths to feed. What could I do? I joined WIC (Women Infant Children), a government program to distribute milk, cheese, cereal, etc to families with children under five. Now, I’m not saying every office is like the one I went to. I’m sure there are dedicated workers who believe in what they do.
Unfortunately, the messages I was sending out to the universe were very dutifully being answered! The people at the WIC office were extremely condescending! After only a few weeks, I actually began to believe I was inept as I was treated and would no longer be able to provide for my family. I sank into a deep depression. Yikes! What could stop the spiral?
One day I looked in the mirror. I had very dark circles under my eyes. My face was puffy from stress. My hair was stringy and unkempt. Who was this old woman staring back in the mirror at me? Where was “I”? It was at my darkest hour, that I knew I had to make a change. I had to take responsibility and control of my life (for what I could). I wasn’t going to sit around and wait for a miracle.
All my life, I knew I wanted to own my own business. I wanted to treat my customers the way I believed everyone should be treated: respectful, personal, and warm. But, what would I do?
It is amazing how life hands you the answers when you ask the right questions. Another former coworker told me of a government program that pays for your college tuition, books, supplies, everything you need to go back to school – if you get laid off from your job and you can prove that going back to school will make you employable again. It is called WIA (Workforce Investment Act). I quickly went to my local community college and found out they just started a two year degree called Entrepreneurship. I had no idea what business I would start, but I knew it was everything I wanted.
Fast forward several years. I now own my business and it was doing “okay” but not spectacular. The same former co-worker who told me about the WIA program told me about a book she was reading called “The Secret”. This was where I learned about affirmations and how gratitude played a role. While, I was being positive in life, I wasn’t being specific. I changed my affirmations to reflect exactly how much I wanted to earn each month. I started using visualization as well as affirmations. I believe this increased the effect in a powerful way.
Fast forward again a couple of years. My business shows no ill effects from the “recession”. Each month, the numbers are growing in revenue and unique visitors. My life has expanded in ways I never dreamed of. Suddenly, I have excuses to travel the world for business. My income far exceeds the salary I was accustomed to. Work is not work, but instead play. Poverty is not in my vocabulary, except to explain that it is just a form of low energy and is simply a manifestation from a broken belief system.
I am grateful when I wake up each morning to start my day. It isn’t in rush hour traffic. It isn’t answering to a boss that has expectations I could never live up to. I wake up to what I want to accomplish with directions only from my inner guidance.
You know, my goal now is to reach women in poverty. Those who don’t understand they can do better. It isn’t about education. It isn’t about luck. It isn’t about circumstances. These women need to know they carry the power to change their position in life. They already are perfect and have EXACTLY what they need to create the environment for their family.
I sat in the WIC waiting room for months on end watching the people around me. These women had no life in their eyes. They sat dead – waiting for their meager coupons for food. There was no spark. There was no hope. They didn’t know.
One at a time. If I can reach out to one person at a time and encourage them to change their life… to make them understand and believe that they have everything they need already. There is no magic bullet, except their own self. They have the power. It is just waiting to be discovered.
Imagine how wonderful our world would be. Will you help me?
I am living in many dimensions at once; the appearance of being trapped in time and space is only an illusion.