In the mid-late 70’s, I was in junior high and high school and I used The Secret without realizing what it was. In grade school, I was not one of the popular kids. I didn’t suffer much from bullies, but I was somewhat invisible to everyone, didn’t have any close friends, and was very shy.

When I was in 7th grade, I was a member of the volleyball team. However, my job was to sit on the bench and watch everyone else play. It was humiliating and disheartening to say the least. While I was sitting on the bench, I made a decision that transformed everything: life was going to change for me.

The rest of that year and throughout the next, I constantly pictured myself being a key player on the volleyball team, becoming a cheerleader, and in general, being a popular kid. In addition, I practiced at sports at home all the time. And I acted differently at school; I became a happy person and was genuinely friendly to everyone, no matter what their popularity status or whether they considered me a friend or not.

One year later, in my eighth grade year, I not only started on the volleyball team, but I was never taken out of the game. At the end of that year, I was given the Student of the Year award for my class, an honor given by the teachers. And I went to cheerleading tryouts at the end of the year and was picked for the squad for the next year, my freshman year of high school.

On a side note, my parents had never let me try out for cheerleader because of the cost of the uniforms. My thoughts were obsessed with hoping that my parents would tell me I could have the money to purchase a uniform if I made the squad. During my eighth grade year, it was announced that the school would provide the uniforms.

I continued to use The Secret. By the time I was a senior in high school, I was the captain of the volleyball team, a varsity cheerleader, softball team player, and was a class officer and editor of the school newspaper. I was also voted Most Likely to Succeed. I was no longer the invisible girl that had few friends.

Though these achievements are trivial when compared to the challenges of adulthood, they were a turning point in my life and helped shape my personality and self esteem. Because I had been on the popular side and the unpopular side of a group, it helped me develop empathy and caring for all people.

One day, I read The Secret book and realized that I had been using it to one degree or another most of my life. Never has my life changed so dramatically as it did in junior high, but I don’t think I’ve ever wanted change as much as I did during that period of my life. I have to say that looking back on my adult life, the worst times have been when I was thinking negatively instead of concentrating on the positive outcomes that I wanted.

I hope my story will inspire you to believe that you can change your life. You have to want it very much, vividly picture it many times a day, and start doing whatever you can to make it happen. The rest will fall into place.