Looking back now, it is almost unbelievable what my financial life was like when I first read The Secret. It was almost more than I could bear. In our late 40s, my husband and I were $180,00 upside down on a house we couldn’t afford. We depleted our 401K to try to make payments, had $90,000 in credit card debt, still owed $45,000 in student loans, 2 car payments, no savings, and incurred a $103,000 debt to the IRS. Yeah. Not good.

It was amid this financial disaster that I watched The Secret documentary and bought the book and, shortly thereafter, The Magic book as well. I believe the most important thing I learned was to ‘feel’ grateful for what I had. I was lucky because I had a wonderful husband, great kids and we had jobs. I focused on the things I took for granted too. I had a car. I had food. I had air. I had freedom. I went to work early at 6:30 AM every day to journal. Before anyone else got there, I wrote down a list of everything I had to be thankful for. I was always taught to say thank you for things, however, I was never taught and it never occurred to me that that is not enough. Without the feeling of gratefulness, just saying the words or even writing them down fell pretty short. So, I made sure in the journaling list that for every item I wrote, I actually felt the feeling. It would actually cause tears to roll down my face, sitting at my office desk, embraced in the weight of everything that I had to be grateful for. This was the key that unlocked its power.

I was able to push all the debt and all the financial woes not only out of the forefront of my mind but out of my soul. Within one year, the house was taken over by the bank, which sounds bad. But, it was a burden lifted and we were actually able to secure a cheaper home that we could afford beforehand. I also landed a job that paid 3x more than what I was making. Money began to flow to me in unexpected ways.

Whenever my thought swayed to not having enough, I would read affirmations on The Secret app and turn the tide of my feelings to having plenty. I knew it was not enough to say thank you. I had to stop and feel the feeling. I knew I got it right when the tears for what I had would well up in my eyes. My favorite lines are, “Today is a good day to receive abundance” and “I am a money magnet.”. They work every time if you feel the feeling and get swallowed up in gratefulness.

As I write this nearly 3 years after applying The Secret, I have very little debt, own my cars, have no mortgage, the IRS is paid in full, I have taken multiple vacations around the world, have $60,000 in savings, I am able to pay for my daughter’s college and it really goes on and on.

It can work for you too. Feel it!