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 intensivecare,
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.