I’ve been looking back at my life over the past fifteen years or so as it relates to my beliefs. Upon reflection, I can see that I’ve made some very significant changes in the way I believe and in turn how I think. I do not think the same way anymore; nor do I believe in the things I used to believe in.

I was looking back on a particular instance this morning when my husband and I decided to release ourselves from debt and become more prosperous. I thought, how did we go from doing all our shopping at the 99Cents Store, not being able to buy toilet paper, etc., to living quite well in Hawaii? What would I tell someone in the same predicament? How did my life change so drastically?

Really it all comes down to a choice. I got clear and decided to do it. I decided it wasn’t okay to live the way I was living. I’d been given a lot of tools from my spiritual mentors, who consisted of my teacher and all the teachers in the books I was reading. I had the tool of Spiritual Mind Treatment, affirmations, meditation.

However, I had to put those tools into practice. Everyday, I had to use my mind in Principle and then back that with practice. I had to go out and practice. Gratitude for everything, including the 99Cents store gave me fuel. Realizing that I was worth it or self-worth made me receptive to the good around me. Affirming that I was succeeding no matter what it looked like at the time, gave me confidence. I had changed my belief about what I was capable of and I set out to prove that belief. I worked with a new passion and I was rewarded with surprises at every turn, not because I worked harder, but because I believed I it was possible and that I deserved it. I surrendered to the Universe, knowing that it was backing me.

It wasn’t easy and I had times of despair and dark nights of the soul, but I was able to lift myself out of those instances because I had created a support team. Yes, there were other people on that team that cheered me on; but, mostly that team was made up of the inner knowing, new beliefs and faith and trust that I was developing and that was getting stronger and stronger through daily practice.

When someone asks me about my successes and happy life, I can say that I am this way because I made a choice to be. I know that no matter how other people might act or what condition the world might be in, I have the power to be a positive presence in my own life and by doing so be an inspiration to others. Yes, I believe that the best way we can help the world is to lift our own life up by choosing to do so and shining that light onto the world.