'We Have Two Choices' a true story from Chicken Soup For Soul

Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had 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 unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed 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 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!

You can't be a positive person all of the time. 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 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," 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. 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 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 never

supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one

morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers. 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 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

he was, 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 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, as I lay on 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 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, 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 waited for my reply. I

took a deep breath and yelled, 'Bullets!'

Over their laughter, 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.

傑瑞是美國一個餐廳的經理，他總是有好心情。當別人問他最近過得如何的時候，他總是有好消息可以說。他總是回答︰“如果我再過得好一些，我就是雙胞胎了。”這是英語中間的比喻，最最幸運的人就是雙胞胎。

當他換工作的時候，很多服務生都跟著他走，從這家餐廳到另外一家餐廳。為什麼呢？因為傑瑞是一個天生的激勵者。如果有某位員工今天運氣不好，傑瑞總是告訴那位員工，往好的方面想。看到這樣的情景，真是讓我很好奇。有一天我就問他︰“沒有人能夠總是那樣積極樂觀。你是怎麼辦到的？”傑瑞說︰“每天早上起來，我告訴自己，我有兩種選擇，我可以選擇好心情，或者可以選擇壞心情，我總是選擇好心情。即使沒有好的事情發生，我也可以選擇做受害者，或者選擇從中學習，我總是選擇從中學習。每當有人跑過來對我抱怨，我可以選擇接受抱怨，也可以選擇指出生命的光明面，我總是選擇生命的光明面。”“但是並不是每件事都這麼容易啊﹗”“的確如此，”傑瑞也這樣說，“生命就是一連串的選擇，你選擇如何回應，你選擇人們如何影響你的心情，你選擇如何處理好心情或者壞心情，你選擇如何過你的日子。”

幾年以後，有一天我意外地聽說傑瑞忘了關上餐廳的後門，結果，早上有三個武裝歹徒闖進來搶劫。他們要錢，傑瑞打開保險箱，由於過度緊張弄錯了密碼，這造成了搶匪的驚慌，他們開槍射擊。幸運的是傑瑞很快就被鄰居發現了，緊急送到醫院搶救，經過18個小時的手術以及密切的照顧，傑瑞終於出院了，但是還有一顆子彈留在他身上。

事件發生６個月之後，我遇到了傑瑞。我又問他最近怎麼樣。他回答說︰“如果我再過得好一些，我就比雙胞胎還幸運了。”我問他搶匪闖入時他的心路歷程。他說︰“我想到的第一件事情就是我應該鎖後門。當他們擊中我之後，我躺在地板上，我有兩個選擇，我可以選擇生，可以選擇死，我選擇了活下去。”“你不害怕嗎？”“醫護人員真了不起，他們一直告訴我沒事。但在去緊急手術室的路上，我看到了醫生和護士臉上憂慮的神情，我真的被嚇倒了。他們的眼睛裡好像寫著‘他已經是個死人了’。我知道我需要採取行動。”“當時你做了什麼呢？”傑瑞說︰“當時，一個護士用吼叫的音量問了我一個問題。她問我是否對什麼東西過敏。我回答說，‘有。’這時候，醫生和護士都停下來等待我的回答。我深深地吸了一口氣，接著喊‘子彈’。聽他們笑完之後，我就告訴他們，我現在選擇活下去，請把我當作一個活生生的人來開刀，而不要把我當成一個活死人。”

沒有人能夠控製和奪去的東西就是你的態度，這是唯一一項真正屬於你的權利。瀟灑和豁達的最終目的是為了使我們獲得幸福快樂。

實際上，快樂或者痛苦是一種自我選擇，是一種心態。

我要每天對著我自己說：

我是最棒的，我是努力的，我感恩我所擁有的，所以我是幸福快樂的。

我能感到每天都在進步所以我是幸福快樂的。

我沒有太多高不可攀的夢想，切實可行的目標才是幸福快樂的基礎。

而讓我幸福快樂的心念在於：

我每天都要進步一些些！

我每天都要多快樂一點點！