GeordieSkydiver 0 #1 March 10, 2005 Someone sent me this in a email, sorry if its a repost but I kinda like it. 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 motivater. 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 lace. "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 then they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the xpressions 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.Lee _______________________________ In a world full of people, only some want to fly, is that not crazy? http://www.ukskydiver.co.uk Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amanduh 0 #2 March 10, 2005 I really liked that. Thank you for posting it. Especially: 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. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites NWFlyer 2 #3 March 10, 2005 I so believe in all this. It's one of the things that has kept me sane and focused and fundamentally okay through the tough stuff I've gone through in the past few weeks. I am a firm believer that when something bad happens to me, I am supposed to make a choice to make something good happen. Call it karmic balance or whatever, but it's basically taking a bad experience and making it positive. My own bad accident ultimately led me to new adventures (including skydiving). The deaths of peers have caused me to reflect on things I'm unsatisfied with and say "If I died tomorrow, would I be happy with the way I left things?" and if there's anything that I would answer "no" to, I try to change it. Everything we do in life involves a choice. That choice can be to remain passive, but by doing nothing, you are still making a choice."There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Bouda 0 #4 March 10, 2005 you know i can relate to that story 2001 i was car jacked and was shot in the back . i went into a rite aid and got help and some to call 911. the whole time i had the thought of death in my head but was going to allow it with out a fight. when the EMts came and i saw their faces it told me one thing, but their words told me another. i stayed calm while they transported me to the hospital and i joked with them in the ambulance. when they wheeled me into the ER only thing i really had in my head was a damn destinys child song Survivor. I was singing that when they pulled me in and the nurses just sorta looked at my wounds then looked at my face. they couldn't understand how someone could be so happy after what just happened to me. one of the nurses asked me what was keeping me calm and why i was in a semi good mood. I looked up at her and said well i got shot but didn't die and i am at the hospital and your not going to let me die from something this minor. When the doctor came in to talk to me a few minutes later. and told me that their was only other time he had ever seen a gun shot victom happy was a young marine he had served with. after he told me that i looked up at him and told him that i was also a Marine . He then sat his clipboard down and said "oh lord" i should have know. then gave we some really good drugs. that is all i can remember about the hospital. Look what i made at work today mom!! Put it on the fridge http://www.bouda.moonfruit.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Join the conversation You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible. Reply to this topic... × Pasted as rich text. Paste as plain text instead Only 75 emoji are allowed. × Your link has been automatically embedded. Display as a link instead × Your previous content has been restored. Clear editor × You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL. Insert image from URL × Desktop Tablet Phone Submit Reply 0
NWFlyer 2 #3 March 10, 2005 I so believe in all this. It's one of the things that has kept me sane and focused and fundamentally okay through the tough stuff I've gone through in the past few weeks. I am a firm believer that when something bad happens to me, I am supposed to make a choice to make something good happen. Call it karmic balance or whatever, but it's basically taking a bad experience and making it positive. My own bad accident ultimately led me to new adventures (including skydiving). The deaths of peers have caused me to reflect on things I'm unsatisfied with and say "If I died tomorrow, would I be happy with the way I left things?" and if there's anything that I would answer "no" to, I try to change it. Everything we do in life involves a choice. That choice can be to remain passive, but by doing nothing, you are still making a choice."There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bouda 0 #4 March 10, 2005 you know i can relate to that story 2001 i was car jacked and was shot in the back . i went into a rite aid and got help and some to call 911. the whole time i had the thought of death in my head but was going to allow it with out a fight. when the EMts came and i saw their faces it told me one thing, but their words told me another. i stayed calm while they transported me to the hospital and i joked with them in the ambulance. when they wheeled me into the ER only thing i really had in my head was a damn destinys child song Survivor. I was singing that when they pulled me in and the nurses just sorta looked at my wounds then looked at my face. they couldn't understand how someone could be so happy after what just happened to me. one of the nurses asked me what was keeping me calm and why i was in a semi good mood. I looked up at her and said well i got shot but didn't die and i am at the hospital and your not going to let me die from something this minor. When the doctor came in to talk to me a few minutes later. and told me that their was only other time he had ever seen a gun shot victom happy was a young marine he had served with. after he told me that i looked up at him and told him that i was also a Marine . He then sat his clipboard down and said "oh lord" i should have know. then gave we some really good drugs. that is all i can remember about the hospital. Look what i made at work today mom!! Put it on the fridge http://www.bouda.moonfruit.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
