Melanie Valderrama
Official ThoughtsAlive Mentor
My journey with deliberate creation began back in 1991. I devoured books by Florence Scovel Shinn, Louise Hay, Og Mandino and Karol Truman. Their teachings rang true to me. However, I started listening to mass mentality that “affirmations don’t work” and “it doesn’t matter if you think positive.” Consequently, I stopped reading about how to improve my life. I still kept my books, thank goodness.
A seed was planted in 1991, but life got in the way and I forgot about my seed.
I got married in 1995 and was pregnant in December 1996. I miscarried ten weeks into the pregnancy. I knew that early miscarriages were pretty common so I wasn’t too concerned at first. However, getting pregnant again proved difficult.
Life became a mess financially.
Financially, my life was a mess. My husband was having a hard time finding and keeping a good paying job. We took an early morning paper route and I tried telemarketing for a few weeks to help make up the difference. I felt discouraged and sad that I wasn’t able to “fix” this situation. I started gaining weight during this time and didn’t feel good about myself at all.
Perhaps I just wasn’t meant to have money.
I dug out my books and started reading to see if I could find a solution. I was eager to discover something that would help or trigger me to do or be better, but nothing seemed to work. I felt that I was trying to do all that I could. Perhaps I just wasn’t meant to have money.
Just when it couldn’t possibly get worse, it did.
My situation went from bad to worse in the early months of 1999. My husband was let go from his job, his fifth one in four years. We moved from southern California to Utah in June 1999 so we could live in my parents’ basement for a while. My husband started working for his aunt and our situation started improving.
The original plan was to live with my parents for one year. That changed when my husband’s job situation had not yet stabilized. It took until April 2002 to find a company that was a good fit for him.
I found some hope and I set a goal.
There were two bright spots in that time. I finally got pregnant. My son was born in 2001 and then, in 2004, my daughter joined us.
My parents left the country for 18 months in September 2004. Our goal was to be living on our own by the time they returned. By August 2005, that looked impossible.
Earlier that year, my sister and then a friend told me about Carol Tuttle’s book “Remembering Wholeness” in the same week. I decided this was a book I needed to read. I did. I liked it but nothing in it affected my life in any major way.
I attended a life-changing event.
Carol Tuttle did a seminar in October 2005 and my friend asked me if I would go with her. I took a while to decide, but I finally consented to go. That seminar changed my life. I started feeling better and I called my sister every night to share what I was learning and she was noticing a huge difference in my energy level.
During the course of the seminar, Carol Tuttle mentioned the book “The Science of Getting Rich,” and said you could get it free from the internet. I wrote down the information and when I got home, I downloaded and read it. I was disappointed since I didn’t find any life changing information in it.
I began to share what I had learned.
Another friend asked me when I was going to host a conference call and share some things I had learned from the seminar. This was a new thought and I decided it was a good idea, so I organized a phone call. Only a few people got on and we decided that we wanted to continue the calls. This call became an amazing MasterMind group that has continued to grow in its scope, and has really helped support me as I have learned and applied these Laws of Success.
Then I was introduced to “The Jackrabbit Factor”
I started looking for books to read and asked the people on one of the calls if they had any suggestions. One lady said she just finished reading a great book called “The Jackrabbit Factor” by Leslie Householder. I looked it up on the internet and ordered it right away.
I read it the first day I got it. One particular phrase stood out to me: “When I have a choice, I choose to believe.” I’ve added one additional phrase: “And I always have a choice!” I noticed about this time that I really felt like I was coming to life! I was truly having fun and learning amazing things. My parents were coming home in four months and for the first time, I felt that we would have a place of our own before they returned!
My husband’s income doubled!
I applied what I learned in “The Jackrabbit Factor” and starting taking action steps. I was scared yet exhilarated by how I was feeling! My husband got a promotion, doubling his salary and we finally had money to make a mortgage payment! We were a little disappointed when we found out we could only afford a condo and then realized that a condo would still be a place of our own. We moved out of the basement the weekend right before my parents came home and it was such a great feeling!
I also read “Hidden Treasures: Heaven’s Astonishing Help With Your Money Matters” by Leslie Householder and was amazed to learn that there are laws that work whether we know about them or not. I also re-read “The Science of Getting Rich,” and wondered why I hadn’t understood it before (now I know that I just wasn’t quite ready for it).
I thought I had it mastered and became a slacker
I figured I had mastered everything by this time (ha, ha) so I started slacking in my studying. I took lots of time off and my old, ugly feelings started creeping back in. I still had the conference call, which was uplifting, but I wasn’t even looking forward to it anymore.
One day I realized that I was slipping and I learned that I was not forever frozen in a master frame of mind. In October 2006, I heard about “The Success Puzzle” program by Bob Proctor. It’s a 90-day program, which I faithfully followed every single day for 90 days. I was starting to feel on top of the world again and life was looking up!
I had another lesson to learn.
Then, in February 2007, my mother was diagnosed with a terminal illness and, in March 2007, she passed away. Her death was difficult for me and I didn’t care about anything for a while. Around November 2007, I realized that if I wanted my life to improve, I needed to put time and effort into it. I couldn’t continue living off the success I had in 2005. My mom had been my biggest cheerleader and wanted me to succeed in life and I needed to start caring about my life as well.
I made a decision to go through Leslie Householder’s Family Time & Money Freedom Course. It was so empowering that I decided to train and become a mentor. I continue learning and growing each day and I am excited for my life and all that I have yet to accomplish! I still have challenges and now I know how to deal with them. Remember at the beginning when I mentioned the mentality that “affirmations don’t work?” Well, now I know why that statement is and isn’t true!
I now have the desire to share what I’ve learned with others.
I’m so excited about what I’ve learned that I want to share it with everyone I know! I have many friends who are discouraged with the current price of gasoline so I’d like to share with you how applying these laws in your life can help you at the gas pump.
Sign up now to receive my FREE REPORT:
“Peace of Mind at the Pump: Using the 7 Laws of Success When You Gas Up Your Car.”
As a bonus, I will send you an 8 part e-course which will explain how to live the laws in all areas of your life!
To your success!
Melanie Valderrama
Official ThoughtsAlive.com Mentor
http://melaniev.thoughtsalive.com
http://ichoosetobelieve-melanie.blogspot.com/