The Power Of Believing In Yourself, As Taught By My Grandmother

"If you believe it, you shall bring it to fruition." Those are the words of my grandmother who way before the book, "The Secret" came out and affirmations were popularized, always believed that hard work and trusting your own words as if what you wished for was already happening, could bring anything and all you wanted into your life.

My grandmother became a widow, and single mother, at the young age of 18. Being a single mother was frowned upon then and in her culture. But she knew she didn't want to remarry and instead of handing the thousands of hectares of tobacco plantations to her defunct husbands family as it was traditionally done, she decided to farm the land herself.

My Grandmother

She knew she didn't have the start up to keep bringing in workers from Virginia to Mexico so she took it upon herself to go to the "Sierra Madre" and hire Huichol and Kora Indians from Nayarit to work "alongside her not for her" as she always said. They knew about the earth, crop rotations, blessing the soil and working hard and lovingly with their hands. She paid them well, offered them living quarters and till today they are mostly all considered friends and family to us.

People mocked my grandmother, told her nothing good could come of an unmarried woman with children trying to do a mans job. To which she would always respond, "I'm already 20 times richer than you" (which she wasn't at the time).

The thing is, even when the last cent had been spent on her helpers and in the land and all she had left to eat was scraps and she believed her words. When people tried to bring her down, she kept her chin up. And most importantly, she would repeat to herself that her children and her would do well in life.

Within 6 years my grandmother had made a name for herself and was one of the biggest suppliers of Tobacco. She later got together with an Italian accountant, my grandfather, but kept to her word and never married again. The land has since passed on to her children, my mother and her sister and 2 brothers. But the most important thing she passed down to all of us was, "Believe in the power of your own words, always remind yourself what you want in life and pretend it's already yours, and don't let anyone's negativity ever make you think any different."

And that is one of the many reasons I forever will love and miss her.

I want to leave you all with a positive affirmation to carry with you throughout the week.

I am open to receiving and earning all the money that universe has to offer. Any money I spend comes back to me three-fold. This is what I am entitled to. So mote it be.

What is one lesson you learned from others in your family?

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