Jerry is the manager of a restaurant in America. He
! [1 J, e2 j, n" j& his always in a + l6 | V1 c+ ]5 t
good mood and always has something positive to say.
8 o1 h3 n6 k- S1 J9 K& S" _& CWhen someone would ask
6 ?9 y& S; d) h+ w$ N. l" L2 hhim how he was doing, he would always reply, "If I; e+ U, J: w/ E- B
were any better, I 2 V5 L: c2 S; W6 v8 V" X3 `! o" s! n
would be twins!"
) _, M% t& a5 c% r9 F6 XMany of the waiters at his restaurant quit their jobs6 \7 X* K: j1 |5 p
when he changed ' ]4 N# J8 E+ {* ^. P- t" ^
jobs, so they could follow him around from restaurant& z' t0 H! l$ Q" C
to restaurant.
; ^6 c u: S S) jThe reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of1 U2 Y9 l* {1 @5 T" N2 f' P6 c
his attitude. - _3 O; o2 Q4 L0 j" Y' }
He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having1 Z$ a3 Q# @- w* g( F
a bad day, Jerry 8 q6 i6 y/ A8 j `7 i& o% S7 d
was always here, telling the employee how to look on
2 u! Y* ?; [% _& z! E; w! M) @the positive side . L& R G6 c1 C& A* y8 S" x
of the situation. . f9 _' K5 F, A$ {9 J' K% X
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I `4 N$ z; u. |3 R% k
went up to Jerry 9 B- T; n6 I. c- v# b6 S) H. A
and asked him, "I don't get it! & E; O( h( [+ [
No one can be a positive person all of the time. How
/ i: }+ @- I8 R1 q* T8 odo you do it?"
8 j' X; j- c; z+ {Jerry replied, - y* Q5 G6 y! m: o8 c2 ?) B: T
"Each morning I wake up and say to myself, I have two
2 c# Y, u5 p- O9 d( Tchoices today. I
& ?, L3 f% s( N9 a. u- U% qcan choose to be in a good mood or I can choose to be
# _+ T- y8 w! ]$ Q3 B' Bin a bad mood. I
: N! c' k* p8 Malways choose to be in a good mood.
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Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a! P/ h" z# I7 i/ f0 p3 {' x
victim or I can
# \ P3 s$ A7 d0 }) e' f. Echoose to learn from it. I always choose to learn from
( A- y9 \' b- k0 c6 e8 ?it. Every time # u9 }( }! d8 \1 l' w* x
someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to( H$ n& T# Z, y
accept their
; {9 v a: ]; k5 [complaining or I can point out the positive side of
9 C1 e0 ~ F6 w5 {life. I always
( b! F9 r$ G, k4 Y' z2 Dchoose the positive side of life." / e! ?& P$ o! s2 y2 m
"But it's not always that easy," I protested.
% L+ v* |7 J2 W- L. b9 S"Yes, it is," Jerry said "Life is all about choices.
* K, C: }3 q- }8 R, a) nWhen you cut away all the junk, every situation is a
5 Z+ { s( N' T- R: _+ C: H$ D. zchoice. You choose
$ ?8 S0 U+ H3 W5 whow you react to situations. You choose how people
( R2 r3 z# ~" G3 l( Twill affect your
3 F% j5 C* r% ]: Zmood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood.
- r$ D5 J' s! ? W" z' HIt's your choice how 1 {7 ?' g( \, P' i4 F6 K; u
you live your life." v; E% V( [" r0 i& }
Several years later, I heard that Jerry accidentally
- l6 | ]( \( C$ vdid something you are never supposed to do in the ; g4 t. X. Y: b5 n+ I- A
restaurant business: left the back door of his
0 D! V2 x Q9 I+ D2 _ F+ Zrestaurant open one morning and was robbed by three ( u; G5 ?+ `& U: |+ ^' a% I$ `
armed men. While trying to open the safe, his hand, ) J5 w0 W5 v$ R1 U
shaking from nervousness slipped off the 9 d3 g: k+ C i H+ M5 D1 M9 {5 P
combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. ( w# v% }! P: ^8 t
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Luckily, Jerry was found quickly and rushed to the
4 X O a/ e& h1 j: j4 U( T. [- |" Whospital. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of 5 i" w! \' Q; P8 I
intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital
0 q+ t0 _* p7 gwith fragments of the bullets still in his body.
, k4 `: q$ h6 x4 k' y% x& E2 B7 s. }, J: |5 l4 |
I saw Jerry about six months after the accident.
5 ~2 ^, t+ l8 j. z- D* S+ jWhen I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were
' E3 c' a2 g% eany better, I'd be twins.
; {' w; E' y5 c) m6 W) w6 ^
/ K) [5 l3 g3 {- SWant to see my scars?" I declined to see his wounds, ( @5 \) e2 t. t @& N2 g& ^
but did ask him what had gone through his mind as D6 T) i! Q- E( w$ ?
the robbery took place.
5 a* ^, u7 h3 I4 ^, l- P/ A6 P2 r+ W) c
"The first thing that went through my mind was that
8 I6 }! P( O7 R4 a: S) h$ q. n QI should have locked the back door," Jerry replied.
+ }) S+ Y: N3 v' b6 r"Then, after they shot me, as I lay on the floor, I
% _ z+ P1 F" ^1 e& K0 C* Wremembered that I had two choices: I could choose to
- H! ~, g: ^9 W1 a! y- Zlive or choose to die. I chose to live."
8 ]4 V3 K" O+ { z
/ H2 K$ h C5 v' \"Weren't you scared?" I asked. Jerry continued, "The
) L+ \9 ]2 b" y9 z/ x8 }* g( U5 Bparamedics were great. They kept telling me. I was
% G3 b* ~4 R) \going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the $ n! ^- I+ h/ s7 s3 H
Emergency Room and I saw the expressions on the 0 R6 @8 Z) @! S+ c- ]
faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really
' v5 x G( {; m# u" Fscared. In their eyes, I read 'He's a dead man.' I + N9 Y& ]' o' E1 I- P
knew I needed to take action." * T Z7 }. b' S8 h; z5 F$ ?" e( J5 B* o
"What did you do?" I asked. "Well, there was a big
. b" y ]. e. A9 ~nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She
$ x, j: z0 g. t( G% iasked if I was allergic to anything." ) |3 k& O* C m6 i+ d! N8 I
" S6 f3 R) J5 K/ W9 V9 Z
, q0 X: S) b' Q# G- A$ X# \'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped
& v: M n d u; p2 t: R) A. p. ]working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep 6 _0 ~5 ^! e2 Y/ n& l
breath and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I2 _7 z) E# I& g* S' @& I# M) v
8 m3 O# j0 I& e$ i- I1 |/ F
told them, 'I am choosing to live. Please operate on + O/ [8 z( ~2 C0 ^( ]- K% c
me as if I am alive, not dead'." / O- z9 c, q! p5 S p
Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but 8 J- P6 {% V, R/ s* f% _( c5 W
also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from 3 V+ h" m, c( C- K4 m" k# `9 @
him that every day you have the choice to either
% O! \! \5 W8 Aenjoy your life or to hate it.
1 }3 w% t8 t. T. d6 j: o( `The only thing that is truly yours that no one can ) V$ f1 x) H$ N% e* j' Z# z
control or take from you-is your attitude, so if you , y7 y+ |3 m6 q0 P/ m! F
can take care of that, everything else in life : r- Y T9 z, F) N) C$ n0 I
becomes much easier. : {6 ~6 [/ i* ?: X; ]6 R+ e4 J N
3 k7 G4 Q: U- l$ q
Now you have two choices to make:
2 W5 W$ z9 a" I& U$ R9 V! n' W1. You can just close the browser now OR 0 o0 i/ z+ y- H+ n" z: l
- m2 Z8 g+ S' g' g
2. You can forward it to someone you care about.
7 I/ V% |$ E; F# J8 }0 m# H ~I hope you will choose #2. I did.
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