By Nazly De La Rosa
This essay appears in “Her Path Forward: 21 Stories of Transformation and Inspiration, ” a Publish Her anthology that shares the various perspectives of women navigating change and the path forward.
“You weren’t supposed to be born, but something saved you and I can’t imagine what my life would be like without you.”
My mother told me the story of my birth and the days leading up to it when she had to make a decision whether to keep her pregnancy with me or terminate it. At the time, she was working as a secretary in a Catholic church in our native town of Barranquilla, Colombia. She was 24, married to my dad for seven years, and already a mom to my older brother, who was 7 years old and had been paralyzed at age 2 from a polio infection. In Colombia at that time, there were no elevators or parking spaces for the disabled. There was no special treatment for disabled children, and quality medical care was hard to come by. Through my mother’s (and her family’s) sheer determination, they managed to make life as normal as possible for my brother. But my mother was tired and all of her focus was on maintaining that life of normalcy for my brother. When she found out she was pregnant with me, she could not imagine how she would manage work, a disabled child, a baby and a tormented (but loving) husband. Her first instinct was to terminate the pregnancy.
She booked the appointment for that termination, and only her mother knew about it. What followed was a series of events that saved my life. Through what can only be described as divine intervention, the nuns and priests at the church where she worked found out about my mom’s pregnancy. On the day I was supposed to be terminated, she walked into a surprise baby shower and baby basket full of clothes, bottles and handmade booties knitted by the nuns. As my mother describes it, she knew then and there that her child was sending her a message. I love to think of that moment when my soul—yet unborn—manifested an entire life. It would not be the first or second or 13th time I would do so.
At age 2, I waved goodbye to my father as he immigrated to the United States. At 5 years old, I hugged my brother and mother goodbye as they joined him after being granted a medical visa for my brother—one that did not include me. I stayed behind with my grandmother and aunt with the hope that it would only be a few weeks before I’d see them again. Weeks turned into months and months into years. During those years, I’d pretend to speak English. I would imagine what America was like. I would imagine what I would become after I arrived. I imagined, more than anything, being embraced by my mother’s loving arms again. I created an entire world in my mind where I was already living in America. In August of 1989, at 8 years old, my dreams finally came to life. A stranger accompanied me on a flight from Colombia to Newark International Airport in New Jersey. Within a month, I could speak, read and write perfect English. The learning curve was low because energetically I had already been that person
for years.
I repeated this process of visualizing my transformation over and over for 39 years. Before I graduated high school, I already knew I would successfully get a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications. Before I finished college, I already knew I would one day look over the Manhattan skyline from my office. Before I met my partner, I already knew we’d have children. Before we had them, I already knew they would be boys. Before I left behind a lucrative marketing career, I already knew I would become a successful entrepreneur. Today, before disrupting the mental health industry and becoming a millionaire, I already know I will be one.
I have no psychic powers. I don’t channel. I’m not a witch. I have simply tapped into a knowledge base that is available to everyone but that so few people take time to demystify in order to put it into practice. While it goes by many names—the law of attraction, manifestation, visualization, the Hermetic principles, and so on and so forth—the concept is the same: What you can imagine you can become. You create your tomorrow today.
My process is the same every time I wish to reinvent myself. There are mindset hacks that form my process, and they are the backbone of what is allowing my company, Believe It Life Coaching, to grow and to bring peace and growth to those who have not been able to find it—neither in church nor through their years in therapy. This is my manuscript for reinvention: Focus on the feelings you want to have, not the things. Have a vision that not only allows you to become a better version of yourself, but that also benefits others. Do not allow yourself to be labeled—not by others, but more importantly not by yourself. You determine who you are always, and you can change that anytime. You will have to welcome change and cannot go where you’re going as you are. You will have to be patient. The bigger the gap between where you are and where you’re going, the more patience and trust will be required of you. You will have to see loss as beneficial. People who are not prepared to go with you where you’re going will naturally fall off from your life. Failure and success are but varying degrees of the same energy. The universe is always conspiring in your favor. Enemies on a human level are friends on an energetic level. Improvements in yourself are never selfish. As you elevate yourself, you elevate the collective consciousness.
If you are here, you have a mission and an obligation to carry out your soul’s plan. Everyone is significant. Your life has been a series of events leading you to the fulfillment of that mission.
Photo credit: Nazly De La Rosa
About the Author
Nazly De La Rosa is “The Soul Coach,” a certified life and spiritual coach and the owner of Believe It Life Coaching. Through her unique manuscript for reinvention, she is helping ambitious women to bridge the gap between the life they’re living and the one they dream of living. BelieveItLifeCoaching.com
About Publish Her
Publish Her is a female-founded and focused publisher dedicated to elevating the words, writing and stories of women. We are passionate about amplifying the voices of women of color, women with disabilities and members of the LGBTQ+ community. We aim to make publishing an attainable, exciting and collaborative process for all. Publish Her specializes in print-on-demand books, workbooks, journals, magazines and more.
