The Power of Love

Thirty years ago, I read a book that dramatically changed my life for the better. The “Greatest Secret in the World” contained 10 secret scrolls that were guidelines to live by and you were supposed to read each scroll 3x a day for a month in order to absorb the information into your subconscious. I followed those instructions and found that it worked for me and those guidelines have been a part of my life ever since.

Last week, I was showing the book to a friend and afterwards I decided that it might be a good idea for me to go through a “refresher course”. So, I decided to read each scroll three times a day for a week over the next 10 weeks. I started Monday with the first scroll that begins, “I will greet each day with love in my heart.” The essence of that scroll is to greet everyone you meet by saying silently to yourself, “I love you.” And letting that love show through your actions and words, which is not necessarily an easy thing to do!

Sure enough, I was tested on Tuesday. If you live at the beach and have a carport instead of a garage, you shouldn’t own a black truck. But being not so very brilliant, that’s what I own. Every day it’s covered with sea salt spray and needs to be constantly washed. So Tuesday I went to a Chevron Station with a drive through car wash. As I was pulling in, a man came rushing out on foot with a receipt in hand. Instantly I knew that something was wrong and as I turned the corner I could see his car stopped at the controller, with only wife and dog still in the car. It was about 10 minutes before the driver came back with a new receipt and for the next 5 minutes he tried to punch in the info but couldn’t get it to work. I’m getting bummed because I need to get to an appointment. Eventually his wife gets out of the car with the receipt in hand and as she walks by me I roll down my window and offer to help. She responds with a dirty look and storms off to the front of the gas station. Another 5 minutes goes by and now I am really worried about being late, so I get out and walk up to the guy’s car. Fortunately, I have read scroll #1, so with love in my heart, I ask the man very politely, “Do you need help? I’ve noticed that sometimes the code numbers are hard to read.” He says no, my wife is handling it. At that point, I gently suggested he drive through the car wash opening and then get back in line because there are four cars behind him that have been waiting a long time. The guy rudely ignored my suggestion, rolled up his window and basically blew me off.

As I walked back to my truck, I felt pretty good about how I handled the situation. I was kind, I was polite, and I offered my sincere help. But most importantly, because of Scroll #1, I didn’t tell the guy to “F#&%@#&*off”, like I really wanted to. Did the guy do the right thing, no! Did I do the right thing, yes! And for the rest of the day I felt pretty good until the next morning when I woke up and saw once again how dirty my truck was and decided… I might have love in my heart, but what I really need is a brain in my head!

I will greet each day with love in my heart, 

for this is the greatest secret of success in all ventures. 

Muscle can split a shield and even destroy life, 

but only the unseen power of love can open the hearts of men.

~ Og Mandino