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Jerry is the
manager of a restaurant in America. He is always in a good mood
and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask
him how he was doing, he would always reply, "If I were any
better, I would be twins!"
Many of the
waiters at his restaurant quit their jobs when he changed jobs,
so they could follow him around from restaurant to restaurant.
The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his
attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having
a bad day, Jerry was always there, telling the employee how to
look on the positive side of the situation.
Seeing this style
really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked
him, "I don't get it! No one can be a positive person all of the
time. How do you do it?" Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up
and say to myself, I have two choices today. I can choose to be
in a good mood or I can choose to be in a bad mood. I always
choose to be in a good mood.
Each time
something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can
choose to learn from it. I always choose to learn from it. Every
time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept
their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life.
I always choose the positive side of life." "But it's not always
that easy," I protested. "Yes, it is, "Jerry said "Life is all
about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation
is a choice. You choose how you react to situations.
You choose how
people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or
bad mood. It's your choice how you live your life." Several
years later, I heard that Jerry accidentally did something you
are never supposed to do in the restaurant business: left the
back door of his restaurant open one morning and was robbed by
three armed men. While trying to open the safe, his hand,
shaking from nervousness slipped off the combination. The
robbers panicked and shot him.
Luckily, Jerry was
found quickly and rushed to the hospital. After 18 hours of
surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the
hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body. I saw
Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how
he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins.
Want to see my
scars?" I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had
gone through his mind as the robbery took place.
"The first thing
that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back
door," Jerry replied. "Then, after they shot me, as I lay on the
floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to
live or choose to die. I chose to live." "Weren't you scared?" I
asked.
Jerry continued,
"The paramedics were great. They kept telling me. I was going to
be fine. But when they wheeled me into the Emergency Room and I
saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I
got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'He's a dead man.' I
knew that I needed to take action." "What did you do?" I asked.
"Well, there was a
big nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She asked if I
was allergic to anything." 'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and
nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a
deep breath and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I told
them, 'I am choosing to live. Please operate on me as if I am
alive, not dead'." Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his
doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned
from him that every day you have the choice to either enjoy your
life or to hate it. The only thing that is truly yours that no
one can control or take from you - is your attitude, so if you
can take care of that, everything else in life becomes much
easier.
Now you have two
choices to make:
1. You can just
close the browser now OR
2. You can
forward it to someone you care about.
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