Attitude Is Everything

Alex always in a good mood and always had 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!"

One day I went up to Alex,

I       : " I do not get it! You cant be a positive person all the time.
            How do you do it? "

Alex : " Each morning I wake up and say to myself,
            'Alex, you have two choices today.
            You can choose to be in good mood
            or you can choose o 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. "

I       : " Yeah, right, it is not that easy."

Alex : " Yes it is. Life is all about choices.
            When you cut away all the mess, every situation is a choice.
            You choose how you react to situations.
            You choose how people will affect your mood.
            You choose to be good or bad mood.
            It is your choice how you live life. " 

Several years later,
I heard that Alex did something you are never supposed to do in restaurant business.
He left the back door open one morning
and was help up at gunpoint by 3 armed robbers.
While trying to open the safe,
his hand shaking from nervousness,
slipped off the combinations. The robbers panicked and shot him!!

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care,
Alex was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.

I saw Ale about 6 months after the accident.

I       : " How are you? "

Alex : " IF I WERE ANY BETTER, I'd BE TWINS. Want  to see my scars? "

I       : " Opps! I dont think so.
            Can I know what had gone through in your mind during the time? "

Alex : " The first thing that went through my mind was that
             I should have looked the back door.
             Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered I had two choices:
             I could choose to live, or  I could choose to die.
             I choose to live. "
           
I       : " Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness? "  

Alex : " The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine.
            But when they wheeled me into the emergency room 
            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! " 

I      : " What did you do? "

Alex : " Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me,
            she asked if i was allergic to anything. 'YES,' I said.
           The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply.
           I took a deep breath and yelled, 'BULLETS!'
           Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live.
           Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.'

Alex lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude.

We Have The Choice To Live Fully.

ATTITUDE, after all, IS EVERYTHING