How I converted to Roman Catholicism at the age of 22

After living for 6 years as a full-blown atheist

+ THREAD +

Let’s start from the beginning

I grew up in a mid-sized city in Poland in a somewhat religious family

By “somewhat” I mean that we were attending Sunday Mass every week, but besides that, God was never a big topic in our home

It was a pretty “basic” form of Christianity:

The one that makes you feel better but doesn’t require much effort on your part

and as a result – does not truly transform you

It certainly wasn’t enough to keep a 16-year-old smart-yet-arrogant guy like me within its ranks

How exactly did I become an atheist?

1) Family issues, especially on a father-son part

Negligence in this matter that started and continued for many years unnoticed finally came to a big conclusion

2) Focus on material goods

I grew up with a pretty distorted view of money and its importance in life

While God wasn’t an everyday topic in our home, money certainly was

3) My premature pursuit of money & independence

I got hooked up on chasing material success when I was 15 yrs old

I discovered Bitcoin in 2013 and quickly got into cryptocurrency mania

It dominated my late teens to such an extent that I didn’t have much time for anything else

While my high school friends were living their lives pretty much carefree, there I was:

A 16-year-old working with 30-year-olds on a cryptocurrency project

Communicating daily with our project’s followers that consisted mainly of toxic young men and degenerate gamblers

Not only was I working on that, but I was also trading Bitcoin (and later Forex) pretty much every day

Somehow, doing all this, I did find the time to get into a relationship

I was 18. She was 17

It was the first relationship for both of us, and we quickly fell in love with each other

Despite my extravagant business pursuits & stress-filled life, we enjoyed our time together, and the relationship continued for the next 4 years

It started to go downhill when we ended up living in different cities due to complications with getting to the desired universities

Long story short:

We split up after 3 years of a mainly long-distance relationship

One year before the end of our relationship I knew I failed at my money pursuits

Here’s the thing:

The cryptocurrency I developed did very well - if you invested in it in 2014, in 2017 you would 1000X your money

I did make a lot of money too but ended up losing most of it due to overtrading and poor investment decisions

I was too impatient, too greedy & too young to know any better

Me spending so much time chasing money, getting stressed over it & lacking the energy to do other things took a huge toll on my romantic relationship

We slowly but surely became more and more distant from each other

The fact that she and her whole family were atheists

& that her parents didn’t teach her how to express feelings and communicate truthfully

Didn’t help either

So there I was:

- Failed at enjoying my teenage years as most people did

- Failed at obtaining “freedom” through material goods

- Failed at maintaining my romantic relationship

Suddenly the thought of disappearing from this world for good became pretty sweet

While it was tempting, I also knew I couldn’t do that to my family

And even though I didn’t believe in God, I was afraid of what may be waiting for me on the other side

Let’s be honest:

Even if you’re Richard Dawkins level of atheist, you still don’t know for sure

How exactly did I become a Catholic?

I was so stubborn that I gave God a chance only once I was certain I lost everything

The same day that my relationship ended (in a very nasty way), I made a decision that I will become a Christian

I didn’t believe in God yet & I didn’t know how I’m going to pull it off

But I decided to bet on Him completely

The ball was in His court now

And thankfully…

He played it back to me the very same day

I was sitting on a train & wanted to rid myself of the racing thoughts

So, I figured I’ll watch one episode of Sopranos, which was the series I recently got back to

I was at season 2, episode 7

It just so happened that this episode mentioned Nietzsche, Sartre, and…

Kierkegaard

Here’s the clip if you want to see it:

While I knew quite a lot about Nietzsche & Sartre, I never really got into Kierkegaard

I just broke up with my girlfriend, so I googled:

“Kierkegaard love” (in my native language)

This was the first result I got:

“Christian Love by Soren Kierkegaard on the Basis of His ‘Works of Love’ ”

I started reading

It was an academic piece written by one of the Polish Archbishops

With each paragraph, I could feel my heart growing and my eyes widening

All 15 pages seemed as if they were written for me for that exact moment

Once I’ve finished reading, a thought struck me

“It’s all true”

There was not a single sentence I disagreed with

Not only were Kierkegaard’s claims true, his way of thinking and personal experiences resonated with me on a deeper level

The guy died 165 years ago, and yet he seemed like a dear friend of mine

I now knew *how* I will become a Christian

And I knew it was the only right thing to do

After just a few hours of me saying “yes” to God

He guided me and showed me the way

I know what you’re thinking!

“You were just desperate and coincidentally watched a fitting TV series episode”

I’d agree if it weren’t for dozens of other “coincidences” that happened to me during the months that followed

(This thread is getting long enough, so please follow me if you want to find out more about those experiences)

The fact that my conversion didn’t happen in some idyllic setting in an apple orchard

Just goes to show that God can speak to you in the most unexpected ways & the most ordinary situations

Even through something as silly as TV series

All you have to do is listen

Where am I now?

It’s been over 4 months since my conversion

During that time, I felt as if somebody put me on a bullet train of faith

The concepts that seemed hard to accept for me initially (e.g. eternal life)

Gradually started to make perfect sense

My everyday life changed dramatically as well

I have been reminded of my long-forgotten talents

The ones I had since primary school but squandered in exchange for short-term money pursuits

I went back to doing what I’ve been always good at:

Reading people & writing

I just recently started a marketing agency with a friend of mine

We landed our first clients in less than 2 weeks since launching

Side fact:

The idea to do marketing for a living sparked in my head suddenly one day

Seconds after I walked out of the church after a Sunday Mass

If that’s not a sign, I don’t know what is

I’m writing this thread to start off what I’m hoping to be a great adventure

An adventure I’m inviting you to experience with me

Whether you are:

- a non-believer

- Protestant

- Catholic

- Muslim

I feel the burning urge to share more with you

And have many godly discussions with you along the way

I’d like to end this thread by thanking others

Neither of you guys knows me, but I do feel like I know you

(At least a tiny little bit)

For guiding me on my path to The Catholic Faith

Despite it being bombarded by Satan both from outside & inside

Thank you:

@TaylorRMarshall

@timotheeology

@JoyoftheFaith

You guys are legends & your work is helping people more than you can imagine

For showing me that it’s possible to build businesses & obtain wealth

While remaining faithful to God and our families

Thank you:

@ZachHomol

@HmestedPadre

@TheBrometheus

You are the living proofs that God is generous to His followers

For inspiring me to always dig deeper

While passing the torchlight to get through the evil that’s around us today

Thank you:

@TheAvtoritet

@HKBelvedere

@FrazzleDazzzled

Your unique perspectives keep me growing, even though I may not always agree with you

And thank you, Dear Reader!

If you stayed with me until the end of this thread

I hope to see you again here & in Heaven

God bless you!