Jerry is the manager of a restaurant in America. He
6 _% ]# e1 P' x0 uis always in a 8 U1 I8 W3 a; T% R0 I+ G s
good mood and always has something positive to say.% Y' r. T8 i8 P% T
When someone would ask 5 t0 g( X2 T$ G5 P- ^8 R
him how he was doing, he would always reply, "If I' W2 f) u0 J7 D+ Q0 E2 f0 V
were any better, I 3 J- O9 K: U/ F$ `
would be twins!"
$ Q% i1 |4 w u. K8 CMany of the waiters at his restaurant quit their jobs& O( O5 i9 a) t- R) E
when he changed
- Q% r2 H0 x- f& G. T, _+ ?jobs, so they could follow him around from restaurant. h9 Y* k! c3 g' W. S4 H! M
to restaurant. - m9 p- L- p5 ^/ K" e2 L7 t
The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of
8 ^0 f1 D7 b2 k1 y8 s7 r0 Y ]his attitude.
. j! n6 b& J2 o" L& E4 c! bHe was a natural motivator. If an employee was having5 M) f/ L6 ?8 x' C z
a bad day, Jerry ) |* e( [7 c6 h1 p* |) Y" `: s
was always here, telling the employee how to look on! |" C/ `; p! t! X: X
the positive side ' Y |& f9 g9 A, a$ U% E
of the situation.
A) m$ N; Z, W! I" L3 u6 Q) eSeeing this style really made me curious, so one day I7 ^# M# d8 K7 `9 P+ @- ^$ J1 }0 j5 @
went up to Jerry " M4 B* r, x( p/ T3 h& j
and asked him, "I don't get it!
! H% I+ r" Y+ fNo one can be a positive person all of the time. How- C* q2 q' I* Z* T
do you do it?"
9 M0 t) u& v% U1 q5 TJerry replied,
7 C9 O# [- P1 R M: q"Each morning I wake up and say to myself, I have two/ O/ W5 {' O& \5 ?1 n$ p9 S
choices today. I g( T" c4 W" }# d: C; Y% q
can choose to be in a good mood or I can choose to be" z. l6 x& h$ J3 @
in a bad mood. I 1 z4 }' q8 b) Z- @
always choose to be in a good mood. I; k2 T* B% L$ Q) Y
% M+ Y {' Z7 V/ iEach time something bad happens, I can choose to be a
7 s# q8 P0 Q/ Dvictim or I can * n7 A. p7 }8 f6 I
choose to learn from it. I always choose to learn from
7 K2 Q w9 {: Q, g& {: i% Tit. Every time
7 |% K* _7 |. g4 z* [9 Tsomeone comes to me complaining, I can choose to
4 q# m ?0 z# K) \' W/ Vaccept their ; i1 N# N5 Y0 Q/ s7 K( s
complaining or I can point out the positive side of5 j4 @0 `8 m( d* }
life. I always
; w7 @7 Q- K K. {7 q0 dchoose the positive side of life." , ?' T4 f6 }( L
"But it's not always that easy," I protested. 0 r& M' S* M# ~- T" o
"Yes, it is," Jerry said "Life is all about choices. " q6 F6 ]& ~; ^* M+ m
When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a
! c( q' p; T. ^- P$ D: i/ f8 e" C+ {choice. You choose
# B6 @+ A: \8 w" C( ^; p7 t) Ghow you react to situations. You choose how people3 E$ U- ^$ G0 ^) _% a6 [. K
will affect your $ o2 z% q" k0 C) b" \3 D, F, j9 I
mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood.; S! l+ y U; K4 U1 t0 b0 X7 l X
It's your choice how 5 U6 S9 u3 X- x0 t% L
you live your life." 2 k& Q l8 y4 V1 A
Several years later, I heard that Jerry accidentally & L2 N) K' {. c4 C1 z2 V
did something you are never supposed to do in the . D/ ]* Y, G5 j9 A/ r$ F
restaurant business: left the back door of his 2 r# I( a' ^6 m0 B* b4 x! ]
restaurant open one morning and was robbed by three ( L6 n0 Z# k2 ?3 b/ p
armed men. While trying to open the safe, his hand, 8 Q* f# |3 R; c: a* @ V6 Q3 ^
shaking from nervousness slipped off the
, I5 M( ?' l T: mcombination. The robbers panicked and shot him.
1 C# O4 \( `8 p ^* P: K. B4 i2 N2 m) n& L' z5 W
6 @5 W2 ]: T5 S% a' x) w1 ~Luckily, Jerry was found quickly and rushed to the
* f2 G" b; i, N6 C# ?) z: i6 d shospital. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of
2 K; {6 ]% h/ b/ Dintensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital . P- B7 G, |- u# t( `
with fragments of the bullets still in his body.
1 ?" e s* L+ J% k7 b6 W+ d# D& t) H) |- T+ U
I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. ! e& | ^9 B. L: ]4 K' S) ^4 c
When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were ; F1 B* ]6 {9 s0 t0 B
any better, I'd be twins. $ t0 ]5 ?7 N/ R- E+ m" @
9 x2 z% B4 P) V I. S& l! LWant to see my scars?" I declined to see his wounds,
3 T8 @; m: Q7 A6 k- p( cbut did ask him what had gone through his mind as & u* X {- G0 Q" ~8 S4 R$ F% H4 j
the robbery took place. 7 C, Q8 r- f) g* ]. t! ]
7 M6 W; x7 l D6 W6 _ m"The first thing that went through my mind was that 6 D W2 C4 B4 f6 t1 y# K
I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. * d# Q& ~" V! ^4 Y0 P! [
"Then, after they shot me, as I lay on the floor, I
9 d- X$ F% {5 K- g4 ^/ ^3 yremembered that I had two choices: I could choose to
# a2 U! a5 V0 N: Z) Qlive or choose to die. I chose to live."
2 ^2 g, I5 c3 Q# j! w N/ x7 h
: o8 {: `; |! l' Z) _4 E( B9 r"Weren't you scared?" I asked. Jerry continued, "The
. s' g! \3 w8 Eparamedics were great. They kept telling me. I was
8 f8 x7 k* w4 T! Egoing to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the & Z# f$ ?, D( M1 V; j7 D2 v. P
Emergency Room and I saw the expressions on the
( C2 R; w. \. C6 A3 r. r* mfaces of the doctors and nurses, I got really . K4 D0 P. P; f3 _, J+ Z
scared. In their eyes, I read 'He's a dead man.' I * ^7 U; A8 ]/ H5 B. f, H) B
knew I needed to take action." 2 d0 o) H* I5 {. C0 F
"What did you do?" I asked. "Well, there was a big
1 W6 ?$ o1 x* q' {; {( fnurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She
$ t# x' F0 T- L% ?; Oasked if I was allergic to anything." 3 T$ B9 B, h+ s X5 T6 z9 u0 f1 G
+ f; j) |( N0 U r* Q8 [+ h
* D4 K& e% {0 {
'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped ' y1 E' X- b" F' R/ O0 Z/ o- n6 U8 X
working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep ; r) ^- \- N! h
breath and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I% w" G o, H- f7 F `, ^
; W3 I( n0 s4 R# z* ^told them, 'I am choosing to live. Please operate on
8 w8 |7 w" I0 W; v9 t" Hme as if I am alive, not dead'."
) ?5 l( }9 g5 [$ m$ }Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but 6 \& G: r: e- B# f6 J, ?% Y8 K
also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from ) M) v7 x* U7 a' c, O$ J
him that every day you have the choice to either 8 p) y! k# [; O6 N' w5 L+ V) H$ n
enjoy your life or to hate it. : y% l, [$ f) f
The only thing that is truly yours that no one can
2 d% ~( O: a% Z$ icontrol or take from you-is your attitude, so if you 6 C$ q; W3 O8 b t2 U! q0 Y9 i
can take care of that, everything else in life 0 I4 g6 { T5 ~+ v9 z- J
becomes much easier.
N5 q8 \" _0 r; {: P7 Y
* O2 t6 F8 w+ ~. a6 @& `2 _/ I- C% qNow you have two choices to make: 1 }0 I" {* n5 }; G: y1 d2 e3 f2 ?, h
1. You can just close the browser now OR
! [1 H7 j; k( p( c& W3 E& u8 H* e# @$ a
2. You can forward it to someone you care about.
: u, ?8 l, G' ]4 i: n; f) A2 j" ZI hope you will choose #2. I did.
8 V$ P8 R: T$ y. _4 f% ^ |