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From:
"Carl Aquilina"
Subject: Think Positive
Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1999 14:02:02 EDT
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 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 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 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 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 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 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 a choice to live
fully. Attitude is everything. You have two choices now:
1) make life work
2) make sure it doesn't. |
