Jerry is the manager of a restaurant in America. He
a' _9 b% j h9 N Ris always in a
5 J7 Q2 m) E) u) K1 Sgood mood and always has something positive to say.9 W, A: \0 s, [, Q. p1 A
When someone would ask 4 \0 A) i. q4 U: _# q
him how he was doing, he would always reply, "If I
8 }% F3 c1 _1 Z; Xwere any better, I
. x) |: u& |. K9 L4 b3 w2 S4 p) Qwould be twins!"
H( W0 F( H3 OMany of the waiters at his restaurant quit their jobs2 x6 s5 a! N6 S4 b( l
when he changed % p3 u+ z* i! m3 n
jobs, so they could follow him around from restaurant
2 M/ {3 K/ l; Xto restaurant.
# M3 v* H, X h) S0 }& sThe reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of% U/ X9 X4 v$ n$ i! F8 O0 o9 [
his attitude. 2 L, t3 W, J# t4 {' `/ `
He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having& `# x. R8 ]* a
a bad day, Jerry - \ q. z7 x3 I& {+ v
was always here, telling the employee how to look on
|8 C' \' y; Z+ ]the positive side
% G9 m$ b4 G/ Y& ^of the situation.
2 O0 O& U6 A. N1 l" ~4 i! oSeeing this style really made me curious, so one day I. O$ y/ o, b% v
went up to Jerry 0 g$ E/ j0 n7 h7 d1 f* F8 D; N( ^
and asked him, "I don't get it! & V j1 ]- u( P1 d
No one can be a positive person all of the time. How
' Q* I8 Y# G1 s) b5 p; Zdo you do it?"
- ` ?: Z! Z" {) U6 c. D6 e* |* {Jerry replied, : |! n* v4 D% @1 b3 y6 f* {8 _
"Each morning I wake up and say to myself, I have two: h" S. J- E9 }3 s) x) f0 e3 q
choices today. I : M+ E! i9 v, m1 [% g# A/ ~
can choose to be in a good mood or I can choose to be
( g6 Q$ }5 p6 u) E, Vin a bad mood. I ) r4 d# r/ i- C" y& R D4 z, I4 s
always choose to be in a good mood. * Q) |5 ^+ ~4 @8 i3 u# j
+ U/ k" k. Y ^- p
Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a
6 l- i \; a8 _1 {8 p5 zvictim or I can * ?# O- Y" ], E& O% `8 x2 J
choose to learn from it. I always choose to learn from
# B! u) c0 N9 o6 ? }it. Every time ' x( m' w9 T7 u) g. e
someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to
1 ?' H2 }! ]7 A, eaccept their
3 O& ` o0 _- d* Z* B- _complaining or I can point out the positive side of
) J P. A6 ]* z9 ~6 llife. I always
- r$ @" D- r y, f( K7 g+ W- P0 Zchoose the positive side of life." / `9 l! S" Z& c1 u* F
"But it's not always that easy," I protested. ' d4 f. W. i: Z" h) i9 h1 n# j
"Yes, it is," Jerry said "Life is all about choices. 4 H3 z# Q* F# C: I8 X/ I
When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a# J4 j7 y* r5 `7 _$ ?/ J2 K
choice. You choose
# A3 f' ]2 i$ M) d8 ]9 M% Vhow you react to situations. You choose how people4 S/ f9 `/ h! H3 Y
will affect your
2 A5 n& v% W; P, p4 Hmood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood.+ O0 n y6 Z# Q/ Q# D
It's your choice how 1 f- S% F' O* v8 }; s; D" [" B& T
you live your life."
2 Y# T a) c T! ]: m V& _8 SSeveral years later, I heard that Jerry accidentally * n3 R! Z; ^& }0 R; Z& ]0 Z
did something you are never supposed to do in the
5 ^/ H6 X1 a! E* w& Brestaurant business: left the back door of his . w! J) T; l3 _4 w- E% B
restaurant open one morning and was robbed by three ^- @1 a5 P' ]6 ^! d z
armed men. While trying to open the safe, his hand, * _7 ~5 p& |; N
shaking from nervousness slipped off the
) _# t \2 j5 m, I9 C7 lcombination. The robbers panicked and shot him. 7 z3 A4 V }8 d# D+ @" f
6 I* j% y( K9 V& S1 Z
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Luckily, Jerry was found quickly and rushed to the * _2 l3 x$ y# ^# o* L& x1 T
hospital. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of
# E0 k( k6 I% {! T# k Xintensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital : z4 K$ w4 a5 X7 @9 M7 x
with fragments of the bullets still in his body.
& B W7 ?& r" V+ K1 |& @+ l: n. K" W) ^3 C# Q# q7 K/ \/ H8 I
I saw Jerry about six months after the accident.
% c: y$ E0 z8 d" {6 G% gWhen I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were
' W3 k& C+ [+ bany better, I'd be twins.
/ ]# m4 ?. D8 x4 D T E8 ~( c4 K: S# y9 ] Q
Want to see my scars?" I declined to see his wounds,
! \) `& C1 W( X) `but did ask him what had gone through his mind as : u, [( u. }7 P( L6 m
the robbery took place.
8 I; O8 ?! N ?9 j
8 t& b! {7 q2 y8 ]7 ^3 n"The first thing that went through my mind was that " \ Q1 U4 T4 F
I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied.
3 T o% v& r+ N"Then, after they shot me, as I lay on the floor, I # R+ V& p+ o) C4 Y: E `
remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to . Z! @! d! B+ [2 a, l: _" I0 C5 e
live or choose to die. I chose to live."
- D: N( [8 A e! B6 u) p ) X; w7 t. p: z. A
"Weren't you scared?" I asked. Jerry continued, "The
- d7 D! }" n/ K" W4 ?7 g: n2 f5 Uparamedics were great. They kept telling me. I was $ B+ {6 W6 F3 C5 Q% A. g( A
going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the
6 H1 a+ R" y# [) E' q Q5 UEmergency Room and I saw the expressions on the " v" _, x4 _% h/ N: L7 l
faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really
; {8 U. |4 W0 V( Q% L" xscared. In their eyes, I read 'He's a dead man.' I , e7 c/ T ^# D2 i3 \
knew I needed to take action."
& N+ Q( I" q, J# @1 K2 I4 d/ m"What did you do?" I asked. "Well, there was a big ) G3 Y9 b K8 s6 A8 h) R
nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She ; c% G/ D! j e: i! h" ^- O& `
asked if I was allergic to anything." ( ]9 f; C \- `2 [
$ {3 _' S5 R! _" }8 V" ]' S3 u
7 f2 M# V" `# e# E0 c'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped " a: Q+ Y! E! y9 V( O5 }
working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep
& W" V5 K: ~7 J3 j" a# j breath and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I- d, j: Y6 [8 [: g# X6 h- k
+ R( O4 c7 W$ c
told them, 'I am choosing to live. Please operate on
# G, \. \ g ime as if I am alive, not dead'."
4 g% b8 d+ w& e: Y! lJerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but 6 A/ d3 ^5 _6 i* e
also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from
+ l8 i8 N* G; f* ?him that every day you have the choice to either
& W* I7 |. \6 H, k/ n$ `7 A1 senjoy your life or to hate it.
* R' G% D- B, E& B/ l* _8 I/ yThe only thing that is truly yours that no one can
2 e. b8 \: g# @5 I: Q- \' Scontrol or take from you-is your attitude, so if you - N) |! E- k, ~6 ^9 f& y& h
can take care of that, everything else in life 0 n D" e8 N( W% @4 ?6 f
becomes much easier. ! {8 I ^* M9 q$ P
! d* Y( v" ]& S& p1 e& X: d6 g3 v$ e
Now you have two choices to make: 3 g* c/ O- ^7 ~7 g
1. You can just close the browser now OR ! J- N* I7 d' _
! u( {9 ~$ c8 U0 ~, g/ [# F2. You can forward it to someone you care about.
; z. d; d) p2 p8 G3 |/ I# s2 HI hope you will choose #2. I did.
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