Jerry is the manager of a restaurant in America. He
9 P' V8 f; i8 N& L3 T, @( _is always in a
( @" B Q' S8 J- {, O cgood mood and always has something positive to say.
1 [7 G) o Y) }1 }When someone would ask
; B2 D Y7 h/ ]. g7 T$ O* E* P" vhim how he was doing, he would always reply, "If I
" o6 ]$ C. I0 Pwere any better, I " N3 O8 d$ z1 [* H5 T
would be twins!"
4 F) O' u3 h# tMany of the waiters at his restaurant quit their jobs
2 e( o' E9 C( c( O/ cwhen he changed : H1 G2 M- R; P
jobs, so they could follow him around from restaurant
1 D' u& T$ ?/ l& S9 Yto restaurant. 5 U- }- r; x& { V, r: y0 D+ e
The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of$ J9 \' M& D; W" D
his attitude. z$ w0 a* c l1 P: u. x
He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having) N& y/ ]. [+ A! o* o$ j. I
a bad day, Jerry 3 g. [0 \: L/ U# z5 d. M% W. Z' v
was always here, telling the employee how to look on1 S1 ~1 @5 }) c$ M& i
the positive side ! G6 ~( g0 X8 {, E3 }
of the situation.
1 e& ?+ [! O6 b4 _Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I1 y# l: F C3 J9 F
went up to Jerry * r g5 b7 v" j7 E" \
and asked him, "I don't get it!
( I+ A; d' ?: g" V* iNo one can be a positive person all of the time. How8 t4 c, o; V1 Y( ]: |! l$ \
do you do it?"
8 C5 B: h m( E, _Jerry replied,
$ J" I. s4 M# G; M"Each morning I wake up and say to myself, I have two/ |6 `9 e3 ^+ r! y7 F3 Q, i1 v" Y3 u
choices today. I / E( F: Q- p/ }+ [8 O
can choose to be in a good mood or I can choose to be5 C+ b' E% l& u2 @3 d( E& F1 U) {
in a bad mood. I
$ k" i3 g- ~+ O% a+ O, galways choose to be in a good mood.
2 j( n. u2 p" p; ?
+ U$ N9 T+ H# m8 I$ A5 iEach time something bad happens, I can choose to be a
) `, y5 h- s1 X% y) g o" vvictim or I can 4 R( E7 H2 D: F( B
choose to learn from it. I always choose to learn from& m7 V8 l: J9 v' [% e9 ^
it. Every time " j6 q* c. [7 ~! w% @; \# D
someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to
+ T5 j& t, k" Eaccept their & w/ p( F3 o( A6 A8 }. ]$ K- n
complaining or I can point out the positive side of9 o9 Q |6 }# {9 V$ l* p
life. I always
: S6 g/ J1 L8 m0 p, L d6 L2 tchoose the positive side of life." 1 K {0 u/ ^4 Q9 y
"But it's not always that easy," I protested.
( O3 h/ u6 N8 G! f% a; a"Yes, it is," Jerry said "Life is all about choices. 0 T9 @5 b Y% i# I/ a( f9 C
When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a
% K! a& V) F( u1 H* Z4 t1 zchoice. You choose
L. h: Z4 w/ O$ _, s+ Yhow you react to situations. You choose how people8 N. X6 @! G. N6 }
will affect your + f* A# I+ r K0 M8 b& O: {
mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood.
3 j3 Z9 y7 N+ qIt's your choice how
+ a Q0 o O& D/ r* r2 B! Jyou live your life."
; O+ d# a6 c) W3 ~: A BSeveral years later, I heard that Jerry accidentally 5 ^4 R8 n i4 l, [& r( u
did something you are never supposed to do in the 4 W0 m% q1 Q- Q8 L
restaurant business: left the back door of his
* u* u: x7 ~1 K% n' Grestaurant open one morning and was robbed by three ) t+ G* l E8 R/ t9 m9 _
armed men. While trying to open the safe, his hand, % \6 A V" H1 K
shaking from nervousness slipped off the K; \3 n1 R% w& Y; Y( D
combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. 5 ^4 k; K, c3 A. t6 U
" H. R. g: i7 B" e) @5 ~7 N7 a( @
8 D/ k8 k. j5 x% W; Y' j
Luckily, Jerry was found quickly and rushed to the " F; Q3 `0 G% r( i# h
hospital. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of
( Y! a4 a4 Z6 Lintensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital - a& h" s; s8 E' k0 E; x$ P2 X" a
with fragments of the bullets still in his body. * y* d# W. j6 _ g6 Q
4 |! v7 Y' \) C7 c) w2 fI saw Jerry about six months after the accident.
4 {% B w# y7 eWhen I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were
" b# m% s' P# q$ f2 h) S8 ^; aany better, I'd be twins.
2 P5 F7 J- d0 O# ]" ~- T; b5 [( @$ o6 _* d
Want to see my scars?" I declined to see his wounds, ; g8 `' w D$ |& s6 N. ~
but did ask him what had gone through his mind as
, B7 R" @$ O E. X8 y& P9 _the robbery took place.
7 m9 k' g/ v7 X4 T( I
& J' U0 s! ~( {# j2 O"The first thing that went through my mind was that + P3 s5 e9 M% }3 S2 A2 D
I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. & ?0 w. T& t* {& {
"Then, after they shot me, as I lay on the floor, I % N9 w( w J; O# S( _
remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to
( a" i( z# ~8 N# ?8 {$ |+ hlive or choose to die. I chose to live."
1 |1 S7 } i: r) H" ? & _4 j- U# }! d/ H7 ^, _# D
"Weren't you scared?" I asked. Jerry continued, "The 2 B% U) }2 E/ A; I+ X X( j& a
paramedics were great. They kept telling me. I was
/ H f+ S' B5 K+ }7 g m0 D7 v: y2 ugoing to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the
7 t. K# Y t3 R5 G. V% SEmergency Room and I saw the expressions on the " z ?' g5 r; S) X' K% e
faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really
$ a. p y+ T Zscared. In their eyes, I read 'He's a dead man.' I - Q& X( _) _1 H3 A( ?
knew I needed to take action." - x; e& i' W+ |$ E& q0 k9 O
"What did you do?" I asked. "Well, there was a big
) v7 ~, S# q, D w; e# ^' Rnurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She
4 a( \) m- u( G d' O7 z8 C casked if I was allergic to anything."
$ W5 V- s2 q+ q/ C& f% }1 [
0 ?' N" T: T: y9 E$ o" L
; q' t9 u5 u$ G) E; q4 R7 a: ^'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped
* d2 |9 G0 o, M* X# h6 Fworking as they waited for my reply. I took a deep . g6 s* w; o& {9 y0 b# |
breath and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I
0 r8 z& N5 J( b1 m l5 {+ j/ a o. M4 r& w$ @. C
told them, 'I am choosing to live. Please operate on Y5 |/ q5 W2 ~/ D ?2 f' z
me as if I am alive, not dead'." 5 |& {4 g* n- L+ T* H
Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but
1 B8 V0 O9 [$ i& @' g1 Falso because of his amazing attitude. I learned from # \1 ]4 s# ] d, U1 X- T' g
him that every day you have the choice to either & h/ W3 V' C4 ^
enjoy your life or to hate it. - Q0 ~+ v# ^0 S, r$ j" d
The only thing that is truly yours that no one can 2 @' n, E s$ `, L$ Q8 e# k
control or take from you-is your attitude, so if you ' N" ^6 f4 |$ d
can take care of that, everything else in life 2 q" m5 |3 G4 a+ p
becomes much easier. 8 i6 W- |( _& t; P! ?1 k/ f
5 k& S& E: R) D( f- w# S0 z1 l
Now you have two choices to make: ! G. l, B, ]8 E, F# D, P T7 c
1. You can just close the browser now OR
6 j" {. p3 P7 a3 O4 K/ H, P8 |' b- b0 b& O
2. You can forward it to someone you care about. ' ~( D, o d& l( t) l
I hope you will choose #2. I did.& g F# E" ~* {$ m
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