My story started 31 years ago when, due to a very unfortunate set of circumstances, I came to live with my grandparents. I was 7 years old when I found out that the people I called mum and dad were actually my grandparents. I was never again really allowed to speak about it and have lived with the burden of that knowledge, and without being able to have a relationship with my mum and dad and 3 siblings. I longed to be a part of my “real” family, but for the 24 years since finding out, I kept it a secret.

In March 2009 I started a new job working in fundraising for a cancer charity. When I started my new job, my boss, Zoe, was off work sick. She had an accident the previous Christmas, falling down stairs, hitting her head and having a brain hemorrhage. It wasn’t until June this year that I met Zoe when she returned to work. The connection was instant and in the 5 months we have known each other we have become very close friends. Zoe’s friend Maureen had given Zoe The Secret after her accident, at a time when Zoe’s boyfriend had just left her. Around 3 months ago Zoe gave me The Secret.

I read the book in one night, from the moment I started reading it I knew that this book was going to change my life, it spoke to me in a way nothing else ever had. It made sense and everything began to fall into place.

I had already been thinking about talking to my birth family, about bringing my own secret out into the open. Suddenly, I realised that my future was in my hands. All I had to do was believe.

So I banished the negative thoughts. I stopped thinking that it would all go wrong, that my parents wouldn’t want to know, that they wouldn’t want to tell my siblings that I am their big sister. I started believing that my mum and dad would be delighted to hear from me, that they wanted this as much as I did, and that very soon my siblings would know that I was their sister.

With Zoe’s help I began to formulate a plan. One thing that resonated very strongly with me in The Secret is that sometimes you have to take action to achieve your dreams, well I was inspired and motivated to take action.

Just over 3 weeks ago, I visited my family in Edinburgh. The day I came home, I left a card for my mum, explaining that I know she’s my mum and asking to talk. I left Edinburgh and went to Zoe’s house. Later that day I sent a text message to my mum telling her there was a card for her at home. 1 hour and 19 minutes later my mum replied – and the floodgates were open. It was a complete outpouring of love and emotion. The Secret was working – she wanted this every bit as much as I did. She wanted her daughter back as much as I wanted my mum. The following week was a blur of emotion, within 4 days my mum and dad had told my siblings, and they have been truly amazing. There is such joy within my family now and I feel absolutely that I am back where I belong. We are complete. The love between us is indescribable. I asked the Universe to reunite me with my family, to be where I belong, and I have got everything I have ever wanted.

The Secret has changed my life – I am experiencing happiness and joy in abundance. Now, I know that my future is going to be spectacular!