Look on the Positive Side..

[Koby]

John 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, John 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 and asked

him, "I don't get it!

You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"

He 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," he 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.

You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your

choice how you live your life."

I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry

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 he was involved in a serious accident,

falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released

from the hospital with rods placed in his back.

I saw him 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," he 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.

He 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 John.

"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."

He 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.

Edited October 7, 2012 by Emotional Outlet