Subject: Positive Outlook

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. bottom line: 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 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.