"Spiritual awakening is the recognition that you're not moving forward…that you are not living your best life. That's the moment to rejoice."

— Oprah Winfrey

On the night of October 20, 2005, I started writing again to heed this humbling call. I am overwhelmed by a sense of spiritual being. Somehow, my shame and vulnerability have been swept away by a new sense of sincere appreciation for what these frailties have truly given to my whole being. I know in my heart that my guiding Angel is with me in this journey as I write this book.

Now at 50, I still believe that my Angel has always been here protecting and guiding me. My barefooted soul wants to reach out to others who have been hurt by their loved ones and share that there is infinite hope awaiting all who have the courage to face up to life’s trials.

In the midst of my hurried life, I eagerly whisper to the wind every now and then. How I hope to fill the barefooted minds of less fortunate young children so they will discover life’s possibilities as I did. I smile to immigrants I meet along the busy streets of DC, give a little something to a homeless guy, and wish him a better life. I am heartbroken and disturbed about the war going on in Iraq and natural disasters that have touched people’s lives.

But I am only one person who cannot take this whole world and change it as I envision it. It’s a tall order no one human being can take on, but certainly God can. In our own little way, I believe we can also make a difference.

Through this book and despite my imperfect world, I hope this new day in my life will be an opportunity to share that we have the power to change the course of our lives and our world – if we can think it, we can achieve it. It is up to us to turn the barefooted soul inside of us as an opportunity to define who we are as individuals and as people. It can be a moving force that destroys our own self and world, or it can be a positive energy that moves our spirit to unimaginable places where we can finally see the highest points in our lives and in our world.

The Barefooted Soul transforms my one’s dark secrets into a source of reflection, fuels strength from within me to break away from being a maid to life’s daily syndrome of pain, stress, and misery, to finding the ONE higher purpose that will fill my inner soul.

Despite tragic and sad stories woven in this book, please allow me to share with you how I overcame them. In so doing, someone out there may learn from my difficult past. It is my innermost desire to tell you the most important lessons my life has to offer.

Despite the chain of poverty that impoverished the lives of my brothers, sisters and next generation siblings, I was blessed to have the love of my parents and the good hearts of my family who humbled me with their resilience, patience and endurance. It was the same core values that helped me overcome life’s challenges and made me who I am today.

Despite the terrible life I endured in my young married life, I was blessed to have two children whose beautiful souls are a joy to my heart. The failures in my married life have been responsibilities I have come to accept. In the end, my frailties have become my strength.

Despite being college educated and having a great professional career in the Philippines, when I arrived in this country as an immigrant, I started all over again making meager wages as a babysitter and a maid. Through my labor of love and against all odds, I was able to prove that America is truly a land of opportunity. It is a place where I have reached the pinnacle of my career and have met wonderful friends and colleagues who have nourished our lives with the blessings of friendship, learning and human dignity.

So today, I heed to the Angel of the barefooted soul and continue my journey in true thanksgiving. This book is an expression of love to my Guardian Angel that gave me the infinite spirit to carry on. It is to all the other angels in my life who have touched my very soul. Thank you to those who lifted my heart along the way.

Through this book I wish to share the greatness of God in my life’s trials and tribulations. It is a legacy to the Angel that gave hope, strength and courage to my once frail spirit. It is about my angel, my soul-defining moments, and reaching a perfect state of mind where I can truly say I am finally free.

May the stories, moments, and the angel that guided my barefooted soul touch someone in the same way it touched my own life. May it inspire all immigrants seeking a new life and opportunities and in the end find abundance in their own lives. May it heal a woman or someone in pain as it healed mine. May our family’s journey touch one child, mother and family at a time, and at the end may it have touched millions of barefooted souls!