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Luvin1stdegree

Attitude Matters

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This is one of those deep meaningful emails that really makes you think. I have no idea if the story is true or not, but the message is worth thinking about.

 

 

 

 

Click for Spoiler:

A Positive Attitude

 

Jerry is the manager of a restaurant in South Philly

 

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 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 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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Whether the story is true or not, the message is certainly true. Thanks, Luvin1stdegree. ^_^

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Very nice post. I just e-mailed it to myself. I plan to share it with some of my colleagues.

 

It's funny. I and my colleagues work with our students on how their attitudes affect their success, especially in a freshmen orientation class we do, but we are a little more 'realistic' in our approach to our own problems, more negative in our outlook about certain longstanding problems in our work situation.

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