In March of 2010, life was pretty bleak for me. I asked the question, What do you do when you feel hopeless?. I needed to hear from you all, and you responded well to this question. I thought that I would update this subject, as I now know some of the steps it takes to turn hopelessness into hope!

Here are some of the changes I made in my life:

A. I began to pray for answers. By praying, I was saying to God and the Universe, "I want something better! I want to thrive, not just survive!" I did not pray for a million dollars, despite hospital bills totaling $750,000. I did not ask for relief from my suffering. I simply asked for the strength and the will to get through each day, One Day at a Time. This was crucial. I stopped picturing a bleak future. I just let go of the present circumstances, and believed that God would hear me. This belief began a chain of events that I never would have thought possible back in 2010.

B. I started with the Manifesting Box. My husband had left me; this is not uncommon when a wife suffers from an extended illness and complicated health troubles. In the box (I am not sure exactly when I did this...it might have been around May or June of 2010), I put in the box a simple request. I truly and absolutely believed that it would come to pass. I think this absolute surety was essential to the success of the request. If you feel hopeless, you might check out Stingray's Manifesting Box Experiment here on Inward Quest.

C.I began to reward myself for my own positive behavior.When I did get out of my bed, and go out, I made sure that I rewarded myself for it. Nobody else was going to do it; I had to do for myself. I did not have much money, but I began to buy special, healthy foods, magazines I enjoyed- things like that. I made sure that when I returned home, I had something to look forward to doing that made me feel better.

C. I eliminated all the negative people from my life. This was not easy. However, I needed positive input from positive people. I found that Wade, of all people, was an especially positive person; in fact, he kicked me HARD in the butt about my negativity on March 3, 2010, and I mark that date in my mind as an anniversary. I listened to him, and acted! All through 2010, I chatted with Wade on the phone every day; we talked about God, Jesus, Inward Quest, the Bible- and I gradually "caught" his positivity!

D. I looked for the silver lining in every cloud. Setbacks were no longer setbacks- they were opportunities to grow! To make clay into pottery, it must be heated in a kiln. Just like the clay, I saw this time as a time when God was "firing me in a kiln" to make me stronger. Life turned from being a series of problems into a series of challenges to be faced and overcome.

I suppose you all know the result of these changes...On Valentine's Day of 2011, Wade and I agreed that it was time to meet in person, and poof! God gave me the money to fly to Pennsylvania and meet my mentor and best friend. In May, I joined him and moved to Pennsylvania. I gave up my home, my smoking, my pain meds, my "stuff"; in short, I finally had created a new life. What was in the Manifesting Box?....

A piece of paper that said....

Wade

God has been good. He is Good!

Blessings, Jaianniah