Attitude is Everything!

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 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.

Choose how you start your day tomorrow.