Choices and Attitudes
Ken Darby
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. Everytime 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: 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.
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Ken Darby writes articles, books and other material helping people achieve their
goals. An internet business may not be for you, but then it might be! Go have a look. I have laid out the steps and methods in a clear and to the point series of short letters. Send a blank email to: mailto: professional@rr-email.com
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