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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'd be
twins!" He was a natural motivator.
If an employee was
having a bad day, Michael 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 Michael and asked him, "I don' t get
it. You can' t be positive all the time. How do you do it?"
Michael
replied, each morning I wake up and say to myself 'Mike, 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 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 isn't 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 will affect your mood. You choose to
be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line is: It's your choice how
you live life. " I reflected on what Michael said.
Soon
thereafter, I left the big enterprise that I had worked in for years to
start my own business. We lost touch, but I often though about him when
I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years
later, I heard Michael was involved in a serious accident, falling off
60 feet from a communications tower.
After l8 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 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-born daughter," Michael replied.
"Then, as I lay on the ground, remembered 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 operation room and I saw the
expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really
scared. In their eyes, l 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 me if I was
allergic to anything. 'Yes,' I said. 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'm 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 a choice to live fully. Attitude is everything. |
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