by franci baltazar-schwartzjrry was th kind of guy you lov to hat. h was always in a good mood and always had somthing positiv to say. whn somon would ask him how h was doing, h would rply, "if i wr any bttr, i would b twins!"h was a uniqu managr bcaus h had svral waitrs who had followd him around from rstaurant to rstaurant. th rason th waitrs followd jrry was bcaus of his attitud. h was a natural motivator. if an mploy was having a bad day, jrry was thr tlling th mploy how to look on th positiv sid of th situation.sing this rally mad m curious, so on day i wnt up to jrry and askd him, "i don't gt it! you can't b a positiv prson all of th tim. how do you do it?" jrry rplid, "ach morning i wak up and say to myslf, jrry, you hav two choics today. you can choos to b in a good mood or you can choos to b in a bad mood.' i choos to b in a good mood. ach tim somthing bad happns, i can choos to b a victim or i can choos to larn from it. i choos to larn from it. vry tim somon coms to m complaining, i can choos to accpt thir complaining or i can point out th positiv sid of lif. i choos th positiv sid of lif.""yah, right, it's not that asy," i protstd."ys it is," jrry said. "lif is all about choics. whn you cut away all th junk, vry situation is a choic. you choos how you ract to situations. you choos how popl will affct your mood. you choos to b in a good mood or bad mood. th bottom lin: it's your choic how you liv lif."i rflctd on what jrry said. soon thraftr, i lft th rstaurant industry to start my own businss. w lost touch, but oftn thought about him whn i mad a choic about lif instad of racting to it.svral yars latr, i hard that jrry did somthing you ar nvr supposd to do in a rstaurant businss: h lft th back door opn on morning and was hld up at gunpoint by thr armd robbrs. whil trying to opn th saf, his hand, shaking from nrvousnss, slippd off th combination. th robbrs panickd and shot him. luckily, jrry was found rlativly quickly and rushd to th local trauma cntr. aftr 18 hours of surgry and wks of intnsiv car, jrry was rlasd from th hospital with fragmnts of th bullts still in his body.i saw jrry about six months aftr th accidnt. whn i askd him how h was, h rplid, "if i wr any bttr, i'd b twins. wanna s my scars?"i dclind to s his wounds, but did ask him what had gon through his mind as th robbry took plac. "th first thing that wnt through my mind was that i should hav lockd th back door," jrry rplid. "thn, as i lay on th floor, i rmmbrd that i had two choics: i could choos to liv, or i could choos to di. i chos to liv."wrn't you scard? did you los consciousnss?" i askd. jrry continud, "th paramdics wr grat. thy kpt tlling m i was going to b fin. but whn thy whld m into th mrgncy room and i saw th xprssions on th facs of th doctors and nurss, i got rally scard. in thir ys, i rad, 'h's a dad man. " i knw i ndd to tak action.""what did you do?" i askd."wll, thr was a big, burly nurs shouting qustions at m," said jrry. "sh askd if i was allrgic to anything. 'ys,' i rplid. th doctors and nurss stoppd working as thy waitd for my rply.. i took a dp brath and ylld, 'bullts!' ovr thir laughtr, i told thm, 'i am choosing to liv. oprat on m as if i am aliv, not dad."jrry livd thanks to th skill of his doctors, but also bcaus of his amazing attitud. i larnd from him that vry day w hav th choic to liv fully. attitud, aftr all, is vrything.
