Choose Your Attitude
Michael is the kind of guy you love to hate. 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 reply, "If I were any better, I would
be twins!"
He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day,
Michael was there telling the employee how they could look on the
positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made me
curious, so one day I went up to Michael and asked him, "I don't get
it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"
Michael replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, 'You have
two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can
choose to be in a bad mood.' I 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 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," Michael,
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 affect your mood. Your bottom line: "It's your
choice how you live life." I reflected on what Michael said.
Soon after, I left the company 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 Michael was involved in a serious
accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower. After 18
hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Michael was released
from the hospital with rods placed in his back.
I saw Michael about six months after the accident. When I asked him
how he was, he replied. "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see
my scars?" I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had
gone through his mind as the accident took place.
"The first thing that went through my mind was the well being of my
soon to be born daughter," Michael replied. "Then, as I lay on the
ground, 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.
Michael 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
take action."
"What did you do?" I asked.
"Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said
Michael. "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...
"Gravity."
Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on
me as if I am alive, not dead."
Michael 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.
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about
itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. After all, today is
the tomorrow you worried about yesterday."
You have two choices now:
1. Ignore this.
2. Embrace it and BE it.
I hope you will choose #2. I did.
Enjoy life -- it's the only one you get!!!
mood and always has something positive to say: When someone would ask
him how he was doing, He would reply, "If I were any better, I would
be twins!"
He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day,
Michael was there telling the employee how they could look on the
positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made me
curious, so one day I went up to Michael and asked him, "I don't get
it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"
Michael replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, 'You have
two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can
choose to be in a bad mood.' I 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 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," Michael,
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 affect your mood. Your bottom line: "It's your
choice how you live life." I reflected on what Michael said.
Soon after, I left the company 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 Michael was involved in a serious
accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower. After 18
hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Michael was released
from the hospital with rods placed in his back.
I saw Michael about six months after the accident. When I asked him
how he was, he replied. "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see
my scars?" I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had
gone through his mind as the accident took place.
"The first thing that went through my mind was the well being of my
soon to be born daughter," Michael replied. "Then, as I lay on the
ground, 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.
Michael 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
take action."
"What did you do?" I asked.
"Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said
Michael. "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...
"Gravity."
Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on
me as if I am alive, not dead."
Michael 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.
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about
itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. After all, today is
the tomorrow you worried about yesterday."
You have two choices now:
1. Ignore this.
2. Embrace it and BE it.
I hope you will choose #2. I did.
Enjoy life -- it's the only one you get!!!