As most of you know, there
are millions of jokes and stories that get forwarded
around through e-mail and posted to websites. I very
rarely use these stories for Mindful Moment, but
this story about the power of choices (which has
been circulating around for years) warrants
repeating.
Attitude is Everything
By Francie
Baltazar-Schwartz
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 of
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 could choose to die. I choose 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.
ENJOY NOW!
