Jerry is the manager of a restaurant in America. He 9 j3 |# d! S) }; e) F& s/ |
is always in a ( c% L: _ G+ H5 ^% T7 B9 d# n* X
good mood and always has something positive to say.
: u9 f2 I+ E# p4 a6 XWhen someone would ask 8 V: b" z) j# E$ `
him how he was doing, he would always reply, "If I
# I' y; B8 W G s, J2 nwere any better, I
1 W+ f: v5 y0 \& y; _would be twins!"
( ^: u% y. j3 T k N/ dMany of the waiters at his restaurant quit their jobs
Q! G" h, A1 L9 P, I; }when he changed : `) h- H9 w; Y; W
jobs, so they could follow him around from restaurant U" b1 u' z- S
to restaurant.
7 c% z; q U: sThe reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of
7 Q8 Z i+ a [9 @his attitude. $ m! y7 X: i9 M6 R: v
He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having" J: `! J( J4 z' y! ?
a bad day, Jerry . D& {2 R; `. a- ^, s6 E% A
was always here, telling the employee how to look on6 C: V7 X' x% R# S! k1 u
the positive side 6 v0 _6 O2 m- E C5 x% Z2 j& N
of the situation. P0 z+ @) c! r6 c' j' D2 H
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I6 A) U6 H, U0 m3 z4 V6 h+ P/ c
went up to Jerry
5 b6 H$ @( x4 \ c. o, k; gand asked him, "I don't get it!
$ Z4 M$ b3 {; L/ l2 N; [No one can be a positive person all of the time. How
) D1 a% \! _, j) Y7 [do you do it?" ! f. @- k! f0 Q% F
Jerry replied,
6 d/ i/ R. b0 r% u, }& h1 D! e"Each morning I wake up and say to myself, I have two
; O! D* ~9 y+ s! u& K# B6 t4 Xchoices today. I
# [5 x! P. ?/ [0 o; |can choose to be in a good mood or I can choose to be
- B- Q. Q1 o$ I4 I. Gin a bad mood. I . l/ W. j c# U1 R* f d
always choose to be in a good mood.
1 N5 z* a4 ~/ I. ^
- H4 }* M; J# TEach time something bad happens, I can choose to be a
Z8 _) x4 d) F$ Y8 Fvictim or I can
2 D$ {1 [; p. {choose to learn from it. I always choose to learn from4 m7 n5 Q* T( o, U8 `
it. Every time 0 t# a8 y5 C! p# a% F5 v
someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to
0 F9 C# ?: G# S( }/ ~accept their 4 ^9 L5 }; E) [( n G3 r
complaining or I can point out the positive side of
/ m; ^4 k& d0 c# b/ F' f5 Flife. I always , q+ g" ]6 E* m, J) ~% W Y* E3 |7 Q
choose the positive side of life."
- d3 j. b3 T5 N) \"But it's not always that easy," I protested. * X4 [% F' B9 o5 {' E- I
"Yes, it is," Jerry said "Life is all about choices. ) u- d0 j, I- |: s$ z$ A6 A- g! h
When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a' k* M: n$ G( T( I- o# I* [7 g
choice. You choose
1 b3 Z1 T _6 [8 K4 Q5 M* Nhow you react to situations. You choose how people
+ J5 Q% R2 `' d2 Cwill affect your
7 o/ i& T' u3 Wmood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood.) @4 x' O6 K5 a+ X9 |9 J' q
It's your choice how
2 w- i! G9 _7 z0 P) B! syou live your life." 0 i% ^: S( b7 v$ f! _
Several years later, I heard that Jerry accidentally
6 F$ r3 O$ U1 F- f8 Q _, A5 V; Vdid something you are never supposed to do in the " {+ ^/ y% O& d
restaurant business: left the back door of his 3 \* z: s1 @- I* o7 T. k
restaurant open one morning and was robbed by three 3 M/ N4 l; S6 J) ?9 e
armed men. While trying to open the safe, his hand, 0 p6 M5 p/ V. d+ m! ^* `
shaking from nervousness slipped off the
0 p0 F# o: s; O# Y6 Z1 m2 A4 Vcombination. The robbers panicked and shot him. 0 N- B/ I0 A2 C/ u) d' T: n
' _3 _3 S: @& u/ G6 K
5 a/ m2 s- q# e! ]8 ^# J# ~& Q. @
Luckily, Jerry was found quickly and rushed to the
9 d! u* I3 f7 B) ]& ^7 vhospital. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of
, y( \5 I- D& Z( H! C. C% }: B, jintensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital
% H0 q$ e: y0 A0 V. d! I$ ^! ewith fragments of the bullets still in his body. 9 ]6 X! ~$ B; u! C+ W1 Z/ @
% \7 b2 M1 F. q% {+ p4 v0 x
I saw Jerry about six months after the accident.
Z; t$ s5 Y/ BWhen I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were
+ p0 ?, P# x9 _' x8 ^% k) Aany better, I'd be twins. " _, ?1 M: g( P! u; G7 D2 P
3 I! ?1 ^5 }; X- }; k4 @Want to see my scars?" I declined to see his wounds,
5 @ ~. X! ~6 |but did ask him what had gone through his mind as
7 p4 ^) {! R$ j; t j: l+ Sthe robbery took place.
! q6 l" o6 [& ^2 e
% c* x9 }/ c( e, v, h: y4 F1 D"The first thing that went through my mind was that
" @# E4 R& D& c7 uI should have locked the back door," Jerry replied.
! @! u0 t0 k0 v; o& K0 f"Then, after they shot me, as I lay on the floor, I
+ }: ?; F, x6 F) premembered that I had two choices: I could choose to ! N$ x: A# J2 F0 y! F4 L
live or choose to die. I chose to live." ; ^8 S; r7 }1 Y" v! T' y0 q
( R5 j( a9 @2 B# _5 b! ]
"Weren't you scared?" I asked. Jerry continued, "The
: x- [1 j, J( k0 ?7 j7 d5 Rparamedics were great. They kept telling me. I was ( J) k% p2 D7 d; |* B
going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the
7 r- A# K% Z2 C; n' d, [Emergency Room and I saw the expressions on the
( B- X$ `' W+ r) Q1 q; `faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really
2 W6 x0 y- N; a( u3 g! L. ^: q, Tscared. In their eyes, I read 'He's a dead man.' I $ P/ u& X& f7 G/ F
knew I needed to take action."
; p; ` j, B- q, s" ]6 q"What did you do?" I asked. "Well, there was a big
0 T+ G7 s0 M; v2 M: w3 Gnurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She
6 K5 Q, [2 a, i! y) uasked if I was allergic to anything." - o- x7 j0 p+ K' Y
* O% i& G9 [: r
8 w( _) h/ X4 q5 R6 s'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped
$ Q/ m$ U0 X' U5 G* Uworking as they waited for my reply. I took a deep
# M1 P: Q, [2 h breath and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I
2 D) y0 S9 V& y, b2 r1 N
# D* z: `, @, x0 \9 n' q6 ?% }told them, 'I am choosing to live. Please operate on
4 s& J r) E9 S$ L( J! Qme as if I am alive, not dead'." : U6 |1 ^* S6 z1 j
Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but + ?( E. @" F6 G9 G# Z9 }
also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from
6 `5 b# e$ {3 _' j& o! V3 ?% G- c( hhim that every day you have the choice to either
9 c7 K$ A& ?! M& a1 H% Kenjoy your life or to hate it.
4 ^* w" l. Z+ Y( ?; _+ }The only thing that is truly yours that no one can * @% q$ B" z; B- @% h
control or take from you-is your attitude, so if you 4 X. B7 T$ w1 d# o+ I4 ~
can take care of that, everything else in life ' k/ u, _5 Q5 G1 @2 C: k- f
becomes much easier.
. ~; |! h+ z$ A% W- |0 c3 e) {7 E: v" y
Now you have two choices to make: + V, U7 `% J0 {( c" `+ @
1. You can just close the browser now OR 4 p3 H1 I4 Y1 R' f2 [) c. e* X+ x
* u. U( J) f4 I5 I, X5 F2. You can forward it to someone you care about.
; P! e% W2 ~$ e8 ]) gI hope you will choose #2. I did.5 m3 f9 h. G* \! ?
|