I’m not too clear on the dates, but I believe that it was sometime in the beginning of February when I planned on going to the bookstore to get a book for work. I quickly jumped onto the internet to make sure the bookstore had it in stock when another book showed up on the first page of the website. The Secret came at me like a strong wind against the shore. It seemed to have made an impression on my memory because I almost walked past it but caught a vivid glimpse of the cover out of the corner of my eye. Without thinking, I picked up a copy and scanned the back cover while standing in line. It sounded interesting but nothing stood out enough to understand why I was even buying it. As I approached the check out girl, she asked ‘What is this and why is everyone buying it?’ I said, ‘I don’t know. Are there a lot of people buying it?’ She looked past me at the line forming behind me and each customer had a copy of The Secret. I was confused. The woman directly behind me said, ‘It was on Oprah yesterday. It sounded interesting.’ ‘Hmmm,’ I said, ‘I don’t have a t.v.’ And I left it at that.

When I bought the book I was in a bad place. A place I had never been before. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had my share of hardship and always managed to get myself of it somehow, but this was different. I couldn’t see that light at the end of the tunnel. I was recently separated from my husband, hated my job with its hour and 15 minute commute each way, and needed to sell or rent my house in this horrible market in order to move away. Let me not forget that I had filed a complaint with the EEOC against my old boss and was waiting over a year for them to complete the investigation and issue the letter for the right to sue. It all seemed so hopeless. The EEOC may not find probable cause. The market was at its all time low in three decades and I lived in a town that not too many people would consider living… vacationing yes, but living, no.

I grasped the concept of The Secret immediately. I knew this. I’ve practiced this in the past and it worked for me. I was just too clouded and weighed down now to even remember how I did it. And when I used it, I was always in a good place so things only got better. I attracted positive things. Now I was at a low I couldn’t get myself out of, or at least I thought until I started reading. I then realized that it wasn’t about thinking I wanted to feel better and for good things to happen, it was about feeling it. Really feeling it with all my mind, body and soul and to put it out through my energy and then to feel and feed off the energy around me. I used a rose quartz as my gratitude rock. I wrote out my list of things that I am grateful for – that I have a home, my animals who are my world, my nephew who could make me smile just by thinking about him, I was grateful for my job that paid the bills – the list kept growing and so did the warm light from inside me. I decided I would begin each day saying good morning to each of my animals and petting them because there is not a lot in the world that can make me feel that good. I turned on music that I love to listen to – everything from Krishna Das to the Partridge Family. It helped to change the way I felt in the morning. I felt different. I felt good. I felt like the energy or the warm light as I like to call it, would fill me up, surround me, and generate out into the universe. It was amazing. And initially, not much was happening but it really didn’t matter because I felt good and I had good thoughts and I wished hard for things to change, so it was almost like praying and I never experienced that before. And, I wasn’t worrying or ruminating over things to the point of making myself sick.

Soon, things began to happen. I was offered a job in New York where I am from and wanted so desperately to return to be closer to my family. I then got a renter for my house without even trying. It came to me. But best of all, my attorney called with the news that the investigation was completed and in our favor. There was enough evidence against the company I once worked for and that betrayed me horribly, that we could move forward for recourse. This all happened within about two months. I have two close friends who read the book as well and they seem to be the only ones who could really understand. I can explain it to others and have had some positive responses and then there are always the skeptics and that’s okay. It’s how the world balances itself out. I know what I experienced and I know that The Secret works.

When I told the story to a friend he told me I had to write in to share it because it is truly a remarkable turn of events.

Not only did I want to share my story, I wanted to thank Rhonda Byrne and all of the contributors of the book. I myself have a vision of writing a book based on my experience at my prior job and with the help of The Secret. I am motivated to accomplish this – I will accomplish this and I will get it published. Thank you all – you save me now and for the rest of my life.

Yours truly,
Laurie Giannola