By Daniel Becerra

“Love is a choice we make from time to time”
- Barbara De Angelis

A couple of weeks ago, I found myself not being able to sleep. I rolled to the sides of my bed trying to find a position that would suit me to my best comfort. If you’ve tried this before you should know that it is a pointless attempt of getting sleep. Usually when you can’t sleep is because something is not right. I sat down and I started to meditate on all the things happening at that moment. I made a mental note of all the things I was grateful for. Picture this in your head and you will be able to see what I made a mental note of. There was me in the middle of a circle. On the edge of the circle, there were all the things that at that moment made up my life. There was books on one corner, there was my family on the other, there was school, there was girls, there was friends, there was exercising, there was the website, and that was it. At that moment, I should mention, I was going through the doubt and grief of not being able to have this beautiful woman by my side. But I begin asking myself, what is missing in my life? Is it this girl or is something else? Is it God? Is it my spiritual level? What is missing? Of course I couldn’t figure it out at that moment, in consequence my tired-self got to sleep around 5 AM.

The question of whether or not this had to do with spirituality or God remained in my head. Two days after this event, there was the Clubs fair. You know, that event in Universities/Colleges where different clubs are trying to recruit people. I came to this event knowing that I would sign up for some and also knowing that I would take the time to listen to some of the religious clubs (I surely knew there would be some) and see if any of them could say anything that hasn’t been said before to me. I’m hard-headed and I question all things, therefore telling me to just “believe” doesn’t cut it for me. I did my round and I told two religion-based clubs I would check out what they were all about and that I didn’t promise them anything. I left. As I was walking to my classroom, this guy came from behind me saying “Hey man, those are cool shoes. Where did you get them at?”. The shoes I was wearing were the Ed Hardy shoes my ex-girlfriend had given me. They have three women on the top. Needless to say, these shoes can catch some eyes. I explained that to him and shortly after I said “What do you got in there, fella?”. He was holding a bag with small papers inside it. I knew that was the catch, there was something written in those papers that he wanted to bring up.

He is a Bible-Study lecturer (and also a computer programmer). Hungry for knowledge as I was that day, I asked him to explain what his philosophy was on the Bible and he had something very interesting to say: “The Bible is up for interpretation, the problem is, most people interpret it to their convenience. This distorts the Bible’s reality”. That made sense. I proceeded to explain him that although raised a Catholic, I became an Atheist because no one ever game me the straight answers I was looking for. I explained him that I had become disappointed not with religion, but rather with the cynicism that revolves around it. I explained that I respected people of all types of religion and that as a matter of fact, some of my closest friends are very devoted to Christianity. I also explained him about my passion for Personal Development and how I believed to be very similar to Christians, in that both seek to help people and do as much good as we can. He was an excellent listener. He listened patiently and didn’t interrupt as I spoke. When he did speak, they were solid points about misconceptions of religion and how it is understandable how many people were given a distorted reality of religion. Here was a guy who wouldn’t give up! In short, the guy sold me before I could sell him.

I can not tell you that I was really excited to meet up with this guy, but there was something inside me that triggered me to call him. I thought that trigger came from my interest in getting him to work with me by programming the website, but I knew that in turn I would listen to him and the things he had to say about the Bible. In all honesty, something tells me that my sub-conscious was more interested in listening to what he had to say, rather than I could learn about computer programming. We met up for the first time along with one of his friends, and surprisingly, the discussion went for a good time. It was interesting to see in how many levels we agreed, we both learned from each other that day and needless to say I was pretty satisfied. We decided to continue the weekly discussions ever since. It’s been a couple of weeks now and we meet once a week to have our discussions. Each week we learn something new and it’s been amazing. I can honestly say that I have rejected religion for so long not because I disagreed with it, but rather because for a long time my vision of it was a unfair one. One that had wrongly been distorted as I grew up. I’m not a devoted by no means and I’m still learning about Christianity, therefore I’m in no position to ask you to consider it, but I can tell you, it is certainly starting to make sense now that I’m being given the straight answers from someone who is living the message. I think I came to completely realized when this guy shared with me a story about Napoleon Bonaparte. The story is about what Napoleon Bonaparte had to say about Jesus Christ.

When Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled from France to the rock of St. Helena. He found himself calling Count Montholon and asking him “Can you tell me who Jesus Christ was?”. Count Montholon declined to answer. So, Napoleon countered: “Well, then I’ll tell you” he continued “Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and I myself have founded great empires; but upon what did these creations of our genius depend? Upon force. Jesus alone founded His empire upon love, and to this very day millions will die for Him”. The rest of the story can be found on the link above, but this bit of the story sums it up. While Napoleon built a legacy based upon force and violence, Jesus Christ built a legacy upon love. And I believe that regardless of religion, ethnicity or gender, we shall all strike to cultivate just that, LOVE. I’m not a Christian yet, but I’m certainly begin to see things more clear. I learned that “Christian” derives from “Chirst”, from Jesus Christ. A man who died being nobody, but whose life and principles were preached, praised, and celebrated after his death and continue to be to date. This article is meant not to talk about religion but rather to show you that the principle of Love can very well be the most powerful principle of life. You need no further proof than that powerful belief in love that has lived and continues to live for centuries. Please, understand that I’m not praising religion here. I’m praising love. The story of Jesus Christ was meant to show you that love is so powerful. This man became a legacy that lives to date because of his message of love.

There are many Catholics, Christians, Jewish and many other religions (forgive me if I did not mention yours), and even Atheists that live by this principle of love and that’s really all that matters. Love is what brings these people together. The label for the religion is just that: a label. I encourage you to follow the principle of love. Follow the example of that man, Jesus Christ, who changed the world based on love only. I still don’t understand how Jesus Christ is connected to God, but I hope I do one day. I want to become as aware as possible of the things around me. I plan to read the Bible as well and I encourage you to do so as well. There is a reason why many successful people recommend it and why it has been the book that sells the most through all these years. Spread love around you. As Steve Pavlina mentions in his book “Love is more than an emotion, it’s the decision to connect with others”. It’s to recognize that we all can connect with each other in way or another. That’s the truth. And the closer we get to the truth, the better we’ll live.

I’ll finish this article with another excerpt from the story: “This phenomenon (love) is unaccountable; it is altogether beyond the scope of man’s creative powers. Time, the great destroyer, is powerless to extinguish this sacred flame (love); time can neither exhaust its strength nor put a limit to its range“. Regardless of this story being true or not, the point is clear that what has preserved this legacy of Christianity through years is the principle of love. Perhaps this is why Zan Perrion says “A man who truly loves women is of course, loved by women”. Time can not destroy love, neither can aging. Love is the only thing that time can not destroy. You can be a young man who really loves women and you watch how young or older women will find you attractive. At the same time, an older man who loves women can get both, younger or his age. Coincidence? Of course not. You can love someone so much and have that person remember you with passion for the rest of his/her life. Don’t tell me that love isn’t powerful, because it is! Love is the moving force. Let your hunger for spreading love be greater than your fear of approaching or achieving. The minute that you truly recognize that you love something is the minute that you begin to act upon it. The minute that you recognize your love for something or someone is the minute that something or that someone begins to unveil its/his/her secrets.

I’m really beginning to believe that a man’s success is not based upon his achievements but rather upon how much love did he live by and how much of it did he spread. How loved he was by his family and the people around him. Someone may say “But, how do I love others?”. Honestly, I can’t give you a better answer other than “to choose to do it, to choose to love”. I’m currently doing what I love, but always what I love involves doing some things that I don’t enjoy so much. I love helping people, what I don’t enjoy so much is spending so many hours of my time working hard. But hey, the love for helping others makes it seem like an effortless task. In the same way, making a conscious effort to love life and others can do the same for you – make life seem so effortlessly enjoyable.

As far as believing in Jesus Christ, I will tell you that the image I have of him right now is that he is the most influential man in history. There is proof that he existed and I’ll give the benefit of the doubt and believe that he did exist, but whether or not he did exist, what still remains alive is the principle of love. If the principle of love made a man be remembered and influential for centuries, wouldn’t you be excited to begin applying it? I hope so.

Words: Daniel Becerra. You can follow on Twitter and Facebook