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A Beautiful Story
Jerry is the
manager of a restaurant in America. He is always in a good mood and always
has something positive to say. When someone would ask him "how he was
doing", he would always reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"
Many of the waiters at his restaurant quit their jobs when he changed
jobs, so they could follow him around from restaurant to restaurant. The
reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a
natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was always
there, telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the
situation.
Seeing this style really made me curious. So, one day, I went up to Jerry
and asked him, "I don't get it! No one can be a positive person all the
time. How do you do it?" Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to
myself, I have two choices today,
I can choose to be in a good mood
or I can choose to be in a bad mood.
I always choose to be in a good mood.
Each time something bad happens,
I can choose to be a victim
or I can choose to learn from it.
I always choose to learn from it.
Every time someone comes to me complaining,
I can choose to accept their complaining
or I can point out the positive side of life.
I always choose the positive side of life."
"But it's not always that easy," I protested. "Yes, it is," Jerry said
"Life is all about choices.
When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice.
You choose how you react to situations.
You choose how people will affect your mood.
You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood.
It's your choice how you live your life."
Several years later, I heard that Jerry accidentally did something you
are never supposed to do in the restaurant business: he left the back door
of his restaurant open one morning and was robbed by three armed men.
While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness slipped
off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was
found quickly and rushed to the hospital. After 18 hours of surgery and
weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with
fragments of the bullets still in his body.
I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he
was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Want to see my
scars?" I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone
through his mind as the robbery took place.
"The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked
the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, after they shot me, as I lay on the
floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or
choose to die. I chose to live."
"Weren't you scared?" I asked. Jerry continued, "The paramedics were
great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled
me into the Emergency Room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the
doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'He's a
dead man.' I knew I needed to take action." "What did you do?" I asked.
"Well, there was a big nurse shouting questions at me, "said? Jerry." She
asked if I was allergic to anything." 'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and
nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath
and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to
live. Please operate on me as if I am alive, not dead'."
Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his
amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day you have the choice to
either enjoy your life or to hate it. The only thing that is truly yours
--that no one can control or take from you -- is your attitude, so if you
can take care of that, everything else in life becomes much easier.
Now you have two choices to make:
I hope you will choose #2. I did because you are my friends. :)
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