posted on February 18, 2006 01:12:03 PM new
I got this in email a couple of days ago.
***Read this, let it really sink in, then choose***
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 a positive person 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.
"Yeah, right, it's not 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 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 I 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. 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," 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 man'. I knew I needed to take action."
"What did you do?" I asked.
"Well, there was a big burly red headed 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... I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34
After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. You have two choices now:
posted on February 18, 2006 01:48:01 PM new
Very inspiring, PI. I always thought about Christoper Reeves and how he lost so much and still choose to keep going. He said some things similar in an interview I saw. He said he had no pity for people complaining about stupid things in life after how he struggled to live...
That facility in NJ he was at is awesome for those kind of treatments. I was there once and this kid had a diving accident and was paralyzed and you could hear him screaming from down the halls. (He had just gotten there I think..) I dont know what ever happened to him but I always hoped they could have worked with him to get him better....
posted on February 18, 2006 02:32:06 PM new
Thanks Pi. I have been trying to say this to Mr. Kraft, who is constantly telling me about all the idiots and stupid people he has to deal with all day. It's a slow process but I keep at him about it. I'll show him this - thanks again Pi!
Yes, Christopher Reeves was so positive, Double. I can't imagine what it must feel like to find out you're paralyzed. I'm sure that's everyone's worst fear.
posted on February 18, 2006 03:00:54 PM newDouble. I can't imagine what it must feel like to find out you're paralyzed.
I dont kraft..really dont know if I'd feel real positive about living if that happened to me. I dont i could get past it. But maybe you appreciate life more or something?
posted on February 18, 2006 03:59:53 PM new
Eight years ago as I was laying on the floor looking at my left foot bent at a 90degree from where it should have been, I was think the same thing about gravity and how a fall from only 3 feet could cause such damage.
When the ambulance arrived and they placed me on the backboard and were getting ready to pick me up, I told them "guys do me one thing...DONT DROP ME"!
I went through the first surgery eight hours later. Two days later as I was being wheeled into surgery again the doctors told me it was possible that when I awoke I would have only one leg. Told then that was impossible, if they took the bad leg off they better go ahead and remove the other one.
All of them, nurses included looked at me like I was crazy. Finally one of them asked "WHY".
Told they that way when I got new artificial legs I could get them to make me taller so I would be height proportionate to my weight.
Well it worked, I came out of all the other surgeries (five more) with my own leg(s).
I found in bad situations I had to keep a sense of humor to keep from going crazy(ier).
"“More Iraqis think things are going well in Iraq than Americans do. I guess they don’t get the New York Times over there.”—Jay Leno".
I have been trying to say this to Mr. Kraft, who is constantly telling me about all the idiots and stupid people he has to deal with all day. It's a slow process but I keep at him about it. I'll show him this - thanks again Pi!