Jerry is the manager of a restaurant in America. He
/ a/ i1 m3 _1 {is always in a " |, f3 J8 m+ K( \
good mood and always has something positive to say.* l1 H& x& t4 e
When someone would ask
2 t# k' Z" @# Y6 z' _him how he was doing, he would always reply, "If I
! J+ _" w2 E8 uwere any better, I ' G4 u: Y+ [# C. c7 I; N' T
would be twins!"
" P8 v' w [* V* A, M$ F- F ^Many of the waiters at his restaurant quit their jobs. ~7 p0 J0 c) X; B
when he changed $ w& i" X; ^6 U" U
jobs, so they could follow him around from restaurant
l8 V: c( F, z+ r+ C: Wto restaurant.
1 _$ O+ u. }. \6 GThe reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of8 J" _( b4 r/ p2 B$ P$ w7 [* p/ `6 K
his attitude.
# m0 [' U% y( nHe was a natural motivator. If an employee was having7 O+ t" i. Z' T0 i! U6 | L
a bad day, Jerry
0 p' M5 }: t( D' W9 ?was always here, telling the employee how to look on
/ b) @$ Y2 I* W; K; f$ bthe positive side 4 @* [$ _8 q# h5 ~3 y% {9 o4 Q
of the situation.
9 M6 M. Z% m% X+ L4 {1 Z/ }Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I
8 _# g' D& ?+ }. d! f" Bwent up to Jerry
) w. y ~& ^0 L% k1 B" Cand asked him, "I don't get it!
- V# n% x+ l7 K) h! bNo one can be a positive person all of the time. How
2 G( I' a" m0 wdo you do it?" & g0 r6 |8 Z# Y) w
Jerry replied,
2 \0 ~' a# g+ Z/ l9 w9 x( ?"Each morning I wake up and say to myself, I have two9 `$ V8 i6 I% ]( \$ v
choices today. I
3 {5 q7 ?7 B4 ^; `! gcan choose to be in a good mood or I can choose to be
7 Y3 Y/ i; N2 E6 s# rin a bad mood. I ! D8 c# t" a% U1 }2 q+ i! `
always choose to be in a good mood. , L+ [, l; `* g+ k
7 n9 U, n0 w8 ]
Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a, @: @# E! a7 o. _1 u
victim or I can
3 M+ M# w7 k- ]; O1 G3 `6 s# Q/ Mchoose to learn from it. I always choose to learn from( T' |2 s, p& s) k
it. Every time
# r! J: a/ f1 j$ i0 ^& Qsomeone comes to me complaining, I can choose to
! u8 ^* |' |2 u9 H7 oaccept their ) ]8 D* W! S4 A" m% ^ i3 t
complaining or I can point out the positive side of
* Y0 d9 |3 Z$ |( ~" klife. I always , K% i' {& a5 `" k7 m6 M
choose the positive side of life." + s" F; O: T3 T( @4 w" c- }1 o3 T
"But it's not always that easy," I protested.
- P3 S0 a, y N9 |* x; X) F"Yes, it is," Jerry said "Life is all about choices. ) H6 T$ J. H5 `+ @! @6 @
When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a* N" L! l+ ?. @/ F
choice. You choose
, n& D' B% B; X8 V- |3 [how you react to situations. You choose how people
: T- m5 F, n8 I1 u* Z6 U$ }' Lwill affect your ( |# T1 j& f* C2 s$ E
mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood." r$ X4 Y& p% e0 a6 h
It's your choice how 8 n' K) |. J; v% w; i* O
you live your life."
# X8 [ c( t8 J! N% n& q5 xSeveral years later, I heard that Jerry accidentally : z: l _& R3 u# M: J! ~
did something you are never supposed to do in the 8 U4 o' c$ L- U2 q7 s
restaurant business: left the back door of his . o5 S* }2 s9 {7 I( M
restaurant open one morning and was robbed by three 2 c! a0 r2 ^$ Z$ Y1 ?4 l. o3 _
armed men. While trying to open the safe, his hand,
$ x- C+ Y" Z3 u0 P6 @shaking from nervousness slipped off the ; N. S; m& a% m0 g `; t9 H
combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. ) L, \7 X$ N, |2 {- U8 M
( @: [0 u8 ^/ _! ?3 S
6 |; J$ W3 j' K6 g- aLuckily, Jerry was found quickly and rushed to the / h; c( S7 n2 L3 N- W) ^% k
hospital. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of
$ y: ~$ w. F2 q9 v; u0 w* vintensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital ( b, Z; \ Y8 i% n* V- @
with fragments of the bullets still in his body. 7 F" C# ]$ U! [. z
* p( E9 r+ {7 U$ W+ XI saw Jerry about six months after the accident.
* K. j8 G; g l4 _5 a! aWhen I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were
& c( `/ D* f' X' rany better, I'd be twins. 8 E* G4 `% y" R5 O6 f
( U, p6 E# B1 {- zWant to see my scars?" I declined to see his wounds, " i4 C/ @3 n0 O2 W0 ], C( v C4 V/ P
but did ask him what had gone through his mind as - t+ o/ R! m2 z7 ]
the robbery took place.
Z$ l! K& t0 C: M4 @9 ~/ W) p$ Y6 U
"The first thing that went through my mind was that
: b8 z' ^; f; [ lI should have locked the back door," Jerry replied.
V; ~$ N& h1 `3 b1 [* Y"Then, after they shot me, as I lay on the floor, I
4 ]' l" ^( L5 Q% `% p9 V! qremembered that I had two choices: I could choose to 2 n* a2 |' M; O4 J% k0 B
live or choose to die. I chose to live."
+ ~/ q8 z* g. @' W: e! E
5 c( e# U% M" O( d" J$ w"Weren't you scared?" I asked. Jerry continued, "The
8 ~0 A% a2 a# |% g8 \0 X2 C% Jparamedics were great. They kept telling me. I was
9 s) b& v( U6 k5 u3 \& Hgoing to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the
& A( `9 _/ S% e IEmergency Room and I saw the expressions on the ; a0 P- ]5 F+ s3 Y$ L- ?% ^% d! _
faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really
) n: h F. c2 ~& ~6 escared. In their eyes, I read 'He's a dead man.' I * C8 p6 _% ^% [/ q; {
knew I needed to take action." 2 M) M7 l) Y$ I D/ `( D: k0 `
"What did you do?" I asked. "Well, there was a big
; I; d$ F7 n7 l' h; Qnurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She " h4 `$ i; K: g: Q' `
asked if I was allergic to anything."
5 w3 z/ A; @ l$ a, |- s, ~9 X7 \0 z2 ?. t, v
$ l& D! F4 E% _6 x" D
'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped
, p, M& j' I+ I/ d9 [+ Pworking as they waited for my reply. I took a deep ' G; [ Y2 R8 C3 Y3 E8 x+ R
breath and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I3 k- e6 P* @6 b7 d1 j/ N4 U, E
/ p" h! Q+ n9 b: F
told them, 'I am choosing to live. Please operate on
: w( D: {( N7 Qme as if I am alive, not dead'." $ O0 z% _, S( ~# B* G0 E
Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but
! i$ x5 ~4 M8 L# ~: x7 H4 salso because of his amazing attitude. I learned from
; o# G. e' n" y( p, O" l1 ~him that every day you have the choice to either
5 Y1 Y, p9 z: r- o8 M9 P6 Fenjoy your life or to hate it.
8 B2 {% e. C1 gThe only thing that is truly yours that no one can
) t- i; s# A- q# ~$ Scontrol or take from you-is your attitude, so if you
: g6 I ?7 ^6 k% b1 c" {, P) Y% ~can take care of that, everything else in life
& D* ]4 k$ \& B' q F2 P" ~becomes much easier. 9 T5 g) s: W# d" X) C& M
' D1 E3 L+ x6 @2 `: C+ W# ]' KNow you have two choices to make:
' V5 f$ r9 w) A0 h6 ?1. You can just close the browser now OR ) ~3 m6 W/ N3 }( m- |" P/ N4 g& E9 w& e
; Q- V* _% T% ~$ Z# D! c+ c" h
2. You can forward it to someone you care about. ! J! C# \' d3 q/ s6 L
I hope you will choose #2. I did.7 I [; k) g2 D/ L: \3 O
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