T W O C H O I C E S
- 1. You have two choices
- 2. Jerry is the manager of a restaurant. He is always in a good mood.
- 3. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would always reply,
- 4. "If I were any better, I would be twins!"
- 5. Many of the waiters at his restaurant quit their jobs when he changed jobs,
- 6. so they could follow him around from restaurant to restaurant
- 7. Why？
- 8. BecauseJerry was a natural motivator.
- 9. 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.
- 10. Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him：
- 11. "I don't get it! No one can be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"
- 12. 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.
- 13. I always choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be victim or I can choose to learn from it. I always choose to learn from it.
- 14. 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."
- 15. "But it's not always that easy,“ I protested.
- 16. "Yes it is," Jerry said.
- 17. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk every situation is a choice.
- 18. 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."
- 20. I heard that Jerry accidentally did something you are never supposed to do in the restaurant business.
- 21. He left the back door of his restaurant open
- 22. And then ???
- 23. In the morning, he was robbed by three armed men.
- 24. They want?
- 25. #123*+!@$%&*~
- 26. While Jerry trying to open the safe box,
- 27. his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him.
- 28. Luckily, Jerry was found quickly and rushed to the hospital.
- 29. After 18 hours of surgery
- 30. and weeks of intensive care,
- 31. Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.…
- 32. I saw Jerry about six months after the accident.
- 33. When I asked him how he was,
- 34. he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Want to see my scars?"
- 35. I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place.
- 36. "The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied.
- 37. "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 chose to live."
- 38. "Weren't you scared“ I asked?
- 39. Jerry continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine.
- 40. But when they wheeled me into the Emergency Room and I saw the expression on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared.
- 41. In their eyes, I read 'He's a dead man.'
- 42. I knew I needed to take action."
- 43. "What did you do?" I asked.
- 44. "Well, there was a big nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She asked if I was allergic to anything."
- 46. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply.
- 47. I took a deep breath
- 49. Over their laughter, I told them,
- 50. 'I am choosing to live. Please operate on me as if I am alive, not dead'.
- 51. "Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude.
- 52. I learned from him that
- 53. every day you have the choice to either enjoy your life or to hate it.
- 54. The only thing that is truly yours -- that no one can control or take from you-
- 56. so if you can take care of that, everything else in life becomes much easier.