choices

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>Here is a powerful story that will kick-start your day!> Jerry is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good moodand>always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how hewas>doing, he would reply, " If I were any better, I would be twins! " > He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followedhim>around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followedJerry>was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employeewas>having a bad day, Jerry was 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 Jerryand>asked him, I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of thetime.>How do you do it? " >> Jerry replied, " Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you have>two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can chooseto>be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood. Each time somethingbad>happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can> choose to learn from it. I 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 choose the positive side of life.>> " Yeah, right, it's not 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 tobe>in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live>life. " >> I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant>industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about>him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.>> Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are neversupposed>to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning andwas>held up at gun point by three armed robbers. While trying to open thesafe,>his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. Therobbers>panicked and shot him.>> Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma>center. 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 hewas,>he replied, " If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars? " >> I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through hismind>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, as I layon>the floor, I remembered that I had two choices:>I could choose to live or I could choose to die. I chose to live. " >> " Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness? " 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 ER 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 takeaction. " >> " What did you do? " I asked. " Well, there was a big burly 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 waitedfor>my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over theirlaughter,>I told them, I am choosing to live. 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 we have the choice to>live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.>> You have two choices now:> 1. Delete this.> 2. Forward it to the people you care about.>> Hope you will choose #2.> I did.>------------------------------------------------------------------------