Like so many people I know, I have spent my life searching for “the truth.” I wanted to find the answers to life’s most important questions: Who are we? Who or what is God? What is life all about? How can I find and experience true love? Can I really attain total fulfillment and happiness in this lifetime? Is it possible to have everything my heart desires? Deep down I believed the answers were attainable; I also believed they would be simple and yet profound.

Although I found myself caught up in the daily activities of working, doing household chores, and attempting to create a meaningful relationship, I never abandoned my search for the answers to life’s deeper mysteries. I delved into countless theories and ideas about love, life, God, who we are, and how we fit into the entire scheme of things. I studied the words of great philosophers, spiritual teachers, dedicated scientists, physicists, physicians, and others considered to be “authorities” from around the world.

Western scientists, biologists, and physicians taught me that I was a physical organism with purely biological capabilities. From science I learned that my brain controls the functions of my body, my personality, and my thought processes; and that in time, I would grow old, die, and cease to exist.

My religion taught me that while I had a physical body that would someday return to the dust of the earth, I also had a soul. One day this soul would either spend eternity in heaven at the feet of God or burn eternally in the fires of hell. My fate depended entirely on whether I was a good girl or a bad girl, and whether I believed and accepted what that religion taught me.

Society taught me that I needed to have a certain appearance to be liked and accepted by others. I needed to work in socially acceptable jobs to be valuable and to fit in. Society also taught me that I should be married by a certain age or I would be considered odd or an “old maid.”

Each time society tried to force me inside strict boundaries, to match its definition of what is normal and acceptable, my immediate reaction was to rebel. Something deep within me cried out for freedom, as if I intuitively knew there was a boundless, creative power inside us, waiting to be recognized. This inner knowing, and my natural desire to have a more expansive, empowering experience of life, drove me to find higher answers.

What I discovered dramatically changed my life. I discovered that we are profoundly more powerful and creative than I had ever been taught to believe! We are boundless, unlimited beings; we are masters of our own destinies. There is something magical and mysterious about who we are, something grand and magnificent: We create our own experiences through the power of our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. Our ability to create what we want is limited only by our imagination and by the belief that we are limited. Too often we are taught to believe that our experience of life is the way life is, so we don’t even consider that our experience is just one version of what life is or what it could be if we opened our mind to other possibilities.

As I began to practice the theories and methods that I discovered, I began to connect with my true inner power. My life was completely transformed; it became easier, more fulfilling, and much more fun. Although I don’t always put all the principles I learned into practice, I am always aware of them, and my life continues to improve each day. Because I understand that my thoughts, feelings, and beliefs create my experiences, I can choose to create a loving relationship, a continuous flow of abundance, freedom to travel, my own successful business, a beautiful home in the location of my dreams, great friends, excellent health — basically everything I have always wanted.

The principles I choose to live by now include the following:

1) We are powerful beings with no limits to what we can create. We have an inherent ability to create our experience through the power of our beliefs, thoughts, and feelings.

2) We have free will. We can choose our beliefs and change our reality; we can create whatever we desire.

3) We limit our ability to create what we desire by limiting our perceptions of what is possible. If we repeatedly affirm our belief in limitations, we will continue to experience them. As we begin to affirm that we are unlimited, we begin to perceive and experience new freedoms.

Everything in our lives originates within us. We create or draw to us every experience and person that exists in our lives. This idea can frighten or upset us until we discover the real freedom and power that lies within it. By knowing that we are the creators of our experience, we also come to realize that we can change our experience if we aren’t happy with our creations.

I believe life is a creative adventure and there are no right or wrong ways to live. I support your choice to believe whatever you want to believe. I also believe we make life tougher on ourselves when we accept self-limiting, self-defeating, self-critical beliefs.