The beginning of August 2021 started our fifth year in Israel after a very rushed and impulsive move. Our life in The Democratic Republic of the Congo, or DRC, since 2007 had been wonderful. The children were born and grew up in Africa. It was the only life they knew and the only friends they had ever had. I had created businesses that were both in the education field and I took them very seriously and with much responsibility. My partner/husband had been on a downward slide since he had left his diplomatic career 10 years prior to leaving the DRC. Yet our life was full on many levels; emotionally, socially, physically, and we were proud of having businesses that served both the Congolese and the ex-pat population with much pro-bono work on the side.

We knew that we were going to leave and we had given ourselves two years to get ready. Then with a few unstable years and some families leaving, we decided in one month to leave the place we had always loved despite its turbulence.

Our first year here in Israel was full of curiosity, disagreements, disappointments, and unsureness. We were not ready for what was waiting for us. We built our move on different stories, different ideas, and different circumstances. Our second year was the start of a cultural shock that would last 3 years. It was also the year that our relationship met its biggest crack and the children started changing culturally, which in itself was unexpended.

The third and fourth years were the hardest on all levels including living those years with Covid 19 pandemic. It was those years that lead to my partner’s two very bad emotional episodes, almost breaking everything apart. It was the time years that I opened my Montessori pre-school, got sick, and had to close it because of the coronavirus. We had closures and no teachers to work with. And then it really went downhill from there. I had come from the DRC with three big projects to realize here so that our life would continue as close to what we knew as possible. Also, it happens to be that I am kind of a bulldozer. A doer when it comes to realizing my dreams. And of course, it helps a lot when you have parents who support you mentally and financially. I had thought of the projects but kept on being sidetracked by the miseries of what had become our lives. By then I was being fully supported by my parents at the age of 51! What a disappointment and a shame, a waste of my talents, and a waste of time. Why did God give me so much talent if I wasn’t able to use it for the greater good and for my family? What was I doing here, why was I not back in the DRC where at least I was helping people there? Maybe not making money but at least helping people with my Academy for Performing Arts and My Montessori schools.

I had encountered The Secret many years ago when my dad had handed the book to me and told me to read it. My dyslexia and I tried to read it but when it became philosophical, it was a bit too hard for ‘us’. Especially since I was so busy working and trying to fulfill myself and others around me. I could not give it much time. I also thought I understood it and knew what The Secret was after a few pages. What entitlement I had, what sureness I had and I didn’t know anything!

A few months ago after finally joining Netflix, I discovered The Secret movie. So many puzzle pieces came into place, a big smile filled my face after many years of frowning and eyebrow lifting. Then a sudden sense of fear of success came over me. I was confused and excited and lost at the same time. It felt both familiar and distant at the same time. I was home within me.

I found out how much I missed myself. I have always considered myself and my life to be very lucky and full of gratitude, but I had lost that for many years. Positive belief and happiness have overwhelmed me since I saw the movie and many other videos afterward. I am learning every day. I believe every day, I love every day and I ask and wish every day.

Our relationship is better than ever and my children are happier with me. Three projects have each seen daylight simultaneously in the last two weeks!

It amazes and scares me how beautiful manifestations can be! How beautiful we all are, how beautiful life is! How beautiful our thoughts are, how beautiful our love is. How beautiful it is to give, how beautiful it is to have, how beautiful it is to share. How beautiful it is to be! How grateful I am for all of this, for all of you, and for The Secret. How I feel tingly and warm inside as I am writing these words full of meaning to me.

So it is the start of my desires being manifested as they slowly revealing themselves. I want to know how to manifest faster so that I can help people, my family, and myself through these important projects faster. The Building of a Montessori Teacher’s College and Montessori School, the building of an International Motocross Track with a moto school, and the building of a PGA Golf course with a Golf school. All are open to the public without prejudice and all of Northern Israel. I believe in these projects and I see them ready and finished in my mind at this moment. I am surrounding myself with dreamers and positive people. I want to be in touch with the people who will make it happen faster. I want to have meetings set with the Ministers involved, with the business people involved, with the donators involved, and the builders involved. All the rest is ready.

I can see all the kids going to the different schools, playing on the same field with their elders, families migrating to our area, and learning one of the gifts of life, Montessori. I am meeting so many different people on the veranda of the golf club restaurant, spending time with the families who came for the weekends with their bikes and staying in one of the bungalows near the track, smiling at all the kids coming to the Montessori School in the morning and hearing what amazing things they did last evening. Seeing a golf teacher helping a kid struggling with his swing because he keeps hitting the grass, watching one of the college students run to the school because she is late for practicing her material presentation on the kids. Welcoming motocross champions at the airport and driving them to the track for an International championship. Watching children getting autographs from PGA golfers who came to our golf course for a weekend competition.

As simple and profoundly as I can put it in words, “Thank you so much, Rhonda. Thank you to all of you. Thank you to The Secret team. I love you.