Monday 9 June 2008

Monday morning Inspiration # 33

Jeff was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was 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!"

He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jeff was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jeff 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 Jeff and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"

Jeff replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jeff, 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," Jeff, 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 will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."

I reflected on what Jeff said.

Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant 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 Jeff did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers.

While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jeff was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center.

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

I saw Jeff about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he said, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Want to see my scars?"

I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place. "The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jeff replied. "Then, as I lay on the floor, 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.

Jeff continued, "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."

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me," said

Jeff. "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, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.'"

Jeff 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.

- Work like you don't need the money

- Love like it's never going to hurt

- Dance like nobody's watching

To read other Monday morning Inspirations click here

19 comments:

Vasanthan said...

i don know if i can be that motivated. i am likely the guy who chooses death at that circumstance.

Shalini Gowrisankar said...

@vasanthan

Hmm..Life is all about believing :)

tulipspeaks said...

i don't know if i can be tht positive minded or not. i'm trying, anyway.


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ராமய்யா... said...

excellent attitude story..Positive attitude is a great weapon which man doesn't know to use.. Cool Story...

Raam

Shalini Gowrisankar said...

@tulip speaks

Okay. But I like it when you said I ll try, that shows your positive attitude :)

Shalini Gowrisankar said...

@Raam

Glad to know you liked it :)

Sudha said...

hi Shalini
You are (all your blogs) are now listed in my blog directory.(hope i have the permission)

Check the site.
www.directoryforsites.blogspot.com
Tell me how you liked it.At present

Arshat Chaudhary said...

wow.. Thanks for tht.. was really motivating..

Shalini Gowrisankar said...

@Sudhakar

Thanks for listing me in your site. Feel really honoured :) Great work by you, to have come up with such a site.

@arshat.chaudhary

Thanks! Glad to know you liked it. Thanks for dropping by my blog. Stay in touch . Will visit your blog soon :)

Vaibhav J said...

Even i try and wake up to the same two choices every morning.
Cheers!

Shalini Gowrisankar said...

@Vaibhav

That's great! :) Thanks for dropping by my blog. Will visit yours soon :)

Anonymous said...

good one gowri.. did you miss the blog meet?

Shalini Gowrisankar said...

@Chriz

Thanks! :) Nope, I did attend the blog meet, yet to post about it. Will do that soon :)

The Furobiker said...

thats just awesome!!!!

di.di said...

seems like a good idea but hey it's easier said than done!

Anonymous said...

hy first time i read ur blog.....
really motivating...
whose this jeff exactly??

Shalini Gowrisankar said...

@Abishek

Thanks ! :)

@di.di

Glad to see you back here.. How have you been dear? Absolutely, its easier said than done, but it is those who put it into action come out successful :)

@Isha

Thanks so much for dropping by my blog. Glad you liked it :) Jeff is jus' an imaginary character . Drop by again to read more, I'm sure you will like them :)

ishqia said...

cool..

Shalini Gowrisankar said...

@ishqia

Thanks!:)