In life growing up you never really think that you will end up a loser. You don’t think, one day I’ll be on government assistance or worse, contemplating living in a shelter.
Just like other little girls growing up (at least my generation or older), I thought I would be married in my 20’s, with a white picket fence in love and happy.
I graduated college at the age of 21. At the time I was bartending, making a decent income, until my mom knocked on my door and told me to “go get a real job”. So I searched around and landed a job as a school teacher making $32,000 a year, less than what I was making working that part time bartending gig. The job wasn’t bad but I was bored. I was seeking more.
I started looking for something I could when I wasn’t in the classroom. I ended up taking on a side gig at a women’s fitness franchise and started learning about owning a business and entrepreneurship. This excited me.
By 22, I opened up my own business, The Occasional Favor, (not that kind of favor, wink wink) a wedding accessory and favor shop and by the time I was 24 I was making 6 figures selling franchises all over the country .
You would’ve thought I would be on top of the world with joy and happiness but inside I suffered. I suffered with sadness and depression. A few years prior to my success in business, my dad was diagnosed with Leukemia, at the time he was only given 2 years to live, so every trip to the hospital I thought he was dying. And on top of that, my mom was battling her own struggle with breast cancer.
So here I was. Successful, young and my entire life in front of me, but inside seeking more.
I would find myself in a silent surrender, asking for guidance to understand what I was experiencing. At this time I found spirituality and the Kabbalah and it really saved me from the darkness I was feeling inside. It gave me a foundation of hope and a guideline to live by. It gave me a sense of belonging and helped me to realize I was living my life in fear.
Shortly after finding Kabbalah, I found myself at rock bottom. I was fired from my 6-figure job, my dad passed away and I found out I was 8 weeks pregnant with my ex, who had just recently left me.
It felt like my world was crumbling. Why was this happening? Where was my white picket fence? I found myself crying, alone, eating my sorrows away. My grief was so heavy. I gained 100 pounds. I was embarrassed to talk to people, embarrassed to go to my 10 year reunion.
I prayed nobody would ask me how I was doing, or what was happening in my life.
I struggled wondering how’d I would answer or what would I talk about. My life consisted of the lines at the food stamp office, and the interrogation I would have to sit through as I attempted to receive child care assistance.
But I knew there was more. So I asked the Universe to help me again. I asked the Universe to help me find my way. And so I started learning. More than just Kabbalah, I started to learn Buddha, Tao, I dove into Deepak Chopra, Louise Hay and Wayne Dyer. I filled my free time with healing circles. I cried. I ugly cried. I released, I prayed and then I started a gratitude practice.
In a healing chakra meditation, it came to me that I was a healer. I needed to follow that path. And so I did. I said YES to things I thought were impossible. I signed up for things that I didn’t have the money to pay for because I believed that I was on the right path and I was right! For every schooling, course, therapy, healing, I would be grateful for the money and the money would appear, every time!
Now I am a 6-figure earning Licensed Acupuncturist, best selling author and Inspirational leader. I guide women and men in becoming the best version of themselves! I find the more that I spend on me, the more return I receive. With each uplevel came a hefty price, but my belief in myself the Universe with a mix of gratitude landed me in first class!
A life of luxury, abundance and happiness is yours for the taking! No matter where you are in life you have to believe. If you are in a place where you feel lack, fear, worry take a moment close your eyes and breathe. My 3 go to steps to shift into a better place is:
- Focusing on my breath, Long inhales through the nose, and long exhales through the mouth, releasing anything that doesn’t serve me
- Being grateful! Saying the words I am grateful is so powerful! Look around the room, there is SO much to be grateful for!
- Mantra: I am safe, I am ok, I am protected
Want more? Come visit me at www.shilamida.com or pick up my book 31 Days of Gratitude: Create the Life You Desire
Instagram @goddess_of_gratitide
Facebook @ShilamidaInspires