A friend gave me her copy of the book, The Secret – 2 years ago. One thing led to another and I never read it. It had sat on my bookshelf all this time.

About 3 weeks ago, I found myself in a very dark place in my life. I had been going round and round with my new manager at work for almost a month – it was tough going in there every day knowing there was so much friction between us. I had exhausted every avenue through the chain of command – nothing seemed to work. I brought those feelings home with me from work, I went to sleep with them at night and woke up thinking about them the next morning. I looked forward to the weekends, but then by Sunday evenings – my stomach was in knots, worry – worry- worry ! Then on Monday morning after my last meeting with Human Resources, I was told moving to another department was not possible.

I was left with two options – stay in the department or leave the company. I also was told I would have a meeting with my manager & supervisor bright and early the next morning.

This was it – I drove home and thought of nothing else but, “What on earth am I going to do”? My husband and I rely on my paycheck; I carry health insurance for myself and our kids. I can’t just “quit my job”; I’ve been there 5 years, but how can I swallow my pride and let her “win” – she was at fault, NOT ME!!

When I made it home from work that evening I went straight to the computer and pulled up websites with job postings – not encouraging. I truly felt so defeated – I was just done! I sat down in the recliner, muted the television and just stared at the wall… the wall that had the bookshelf in the corner. As I stared at the bookshelf I realized there was a book on the bottom shelf that I didn’t remember – “The Secret”.

I began to read, and read and read… I couldn’t put it down. My husband got home from work expecting to see me with the same worn out, life-is-beating-me-up-yet-again look I have worn for the last month. SURPRISE – not anymore!

I gave him a huge hug and an even bigger smile and said THANK YOU – thank you for standing by me and for being my friend. He asked if something had changed and I told him yes – ME! I wasn’t exactly sure how my meeting the next morning was going to go, but I was going to walk in with a smile on my face, gratitude in my heart and a positive attitude – everything would be just fine.

On my way to work the next morning, I hummed my favorite tune, smiled at the people in their cars next to me and at every traffic light I came up to – I said, “Green light, green light, green light – GO”, and they either turned green or were green long enough for me to get through the intersection. I didn’t encounter one red light on my commute. The meeting went great – misunderstandings were put to rest and we have moved forward.

Just as I thought about and expected the traffic lights to turn green, I gained the confidence that that meeting would also go my way, and it did.

Yesterday my manager told me how happy she was that I was no longer angry with her. What a valuable lesson I have learned. Without realizing it, my anger and resentment towards her were actually causing anger and resentment to come my way, because I am a magnet.