Believe it or not, you can choose to be poor! Years ago, I was jobless for months. My savings were dropping. I did some volunteer jobs, only walking to and from the office every day to save the little money I had for the day. At lunch, I would eat only two pieces of banana. Depressed, I asked God why I was experiencing poverty. Was that His way of favoring me? But, what is poverty anyway? Pointing at the beggars on the sidewalk of Makati Avenue, I asked, "Is that poverty?" I had no answer but there's only one way to find out. Be one of them. Leaving all things behind except for the clothes I was wearing and a few bucks, I left home and spent the night in a park together with all sorts of homeless people. I couldn't sleep the way the homeless could. I had fear in my mind that someone might just strip me naked and steal everything I had, or find myself in the morning with a knife on my chest. Thinking that my life was already a throw-away, I went to places where men cru