Look on the Bright Side of things...

[SK2005]

This goes along with my 'Attitude is everything' thread...

Look on the Bright Side of Things

​

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 would 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 of the time. How do you do it?” Michael 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.” “Yea, right, it’s not that easy,” I protested. “Yes, it is,” Michael replied. “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 Michael said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower 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 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. Do you want to see my scars?” I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through. “The first things 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 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. 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 ma’. 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 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.” Michael lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. Attitude, after all is everything.

 

[Druidus]

Nice. i thought it was going to be about Monty Python though.

 

[SoulTYPE]

It may be my usual self not understanding, but I have no idea why he "lived" because of his "attitude".

 

[rivet]

It may be my usual self not understanding, but I have no idea why he "lived" because of his "attitude".

Mind over matter

 

[Bastet]

I read an almost identical article in a hospitality magazine once, and cut it out to keep. The only difference was that 'Michael' owned his own restaurant, and was shot during a burglary. Exactly the same story, word for word, otherwise. It's still a good message though.

 

[Bastet]

Nice. i thought it was going to be about Monty Python though.

Yes...I have that song pop into my head every time I see the thread title.