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Positive Thinking

Jerry 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 Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry 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 Jerry and asked him, “I don’t get it! You can’t be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?” Jerry replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, 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,” Jerry 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 Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard that Jerry 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, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body. I saw Jerry 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 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,” Jerry 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. Jerry 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 Jerry. “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.”

Jerry 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.

By Francie Baltazar-Schwartz

Let this really sink in-
then choose how you start your day tomorrow.

{ 265 comments… add one }
  • Muhammed February 7, 2013, 10:12 pm

    Am more happy.. I got a initiation..thnx

  • Marimel :) January 29, 2013, 6:15 am

    It is a very inspiring story .. hoooh ..! da best ..

  • Bhanu January 23, 2013, 2:05 am

    Think positive…..be happy and make dem happy…….
    and keep smiling…………….:):)

  • Mariaetete January 17, 2013, 5:30 am

    A good life to leave on.

  • Rasika January 16, 2013, 7:20 am

    Highly motivational story. One should practice this idea.

  • Divya Anbalagan January 15, 2013, 4:15 am

    Superb motivation.

  • RAVISANKAR January 14, 2013, 8:47 am

    I am so happy and inspired. Thank you.

  • Kunal January 5, 2013, 1:36 am

    Positive thinking is very important in life.

  • Sai Prathyusha December 29, 2012, 12:46 am

    Right now I have two choises with me — to change my way of thinking by following the footsteps of Jerry — or to be myself…

    I prefer to be myself by following the principles of Jerry…

    THINK DIFFERENT….

  • Deepak Maheshvari December 20, 2012, 3:26 am

    Super like….It is really a grt motivational story i ever heard 🙂

  • Buddha December 19, 2012, 7:51 am

    Hi. It’s really good, it helps me to give good interview in positive thinking.

  • Satyavalli December 19, 2012, 7:18 am

    It is a very inspirational story. I want to improve positive attitude.

  • Rohit December 14, 2012, 9:15 am

    I really get more knowledge from your story, thanks.

  • Joan Eve December 7, 2012, 2:09 am

    Simply amazing!

    I’ll chisel this in my head and in my heart.

    Thank you!

  • Pradeep December 4, 2012, 2:32 am

    It is a nice story but it happens to less than 1% of people.

  • Venkat Raman December 2, 2012, 4:45 am

    Nice. It’s a very inspirational story ♥☺

  • Jyoti November 30, 2012, 2:29 am

    Very nice and motivational stories I read in this site..very nice, I loved it, I learned my life’s most important thing.

  • Sumit Shrirame November 28, 2012, 1:36 pm

    There are two ways: positive and negative. We are proud by choosing the positive way.

  • Kaveri November 25, 2012, 2:36 am

    It is truly fantastic story. I have learned my life’s most important thing today! Really made my day positive.

  • Girish November 20, 2012, 2:04 am

    Its all about attitude – Easy said but difficult to follow

    Bottom line, we all need to have a positive attitude for ourself and everyone around us.

    The best is set an example

  • Aditi November 17, 2012, 8:33 am

    ALAS! I really think positive after reading this story. I’ll never forget this story. Thank you !

  • Naveen November 14, 2012, 5:13 pm

    I pray to God to make me and people around me like Jerry.

  • Shruthi November 14, 2012, 6:50 am

    Super!!!

  • Aman Tiwari Pandey November 6, 2012, 11:13 am

    Very very thanks to you for such an inspirational story, I really love it.

  • Pavani November 2, 2012, 6:57 am

    This is really an inspiring story. I loved this story. Thanks to Francie Baltazar-Schwartz

  • Vishal November 2, 2012, 5:13 am

    Really we should think positively in our life…

  • Shalu November 1, 2012, 5:28 am

    It’s so interesting & awesome story if we read dis story anyone can easily inspired thanks a lot.

  • Shaqir October 26, 2012, 4:46 am

    Truly amazing story, it can change your thought process 🙂

  • Divine October 22, 2012, 12:52 am

    Live life to the fullest… but always choose to be in a good mood always.

  • Ajagun October 18, 2012, 10:07 am

    Choice is essential to living…..LOL…..

    Many thanks for your stories !

  • Alok Singh October 18, 2012, 4:51 am

    great….

  • Pooja Singh October 16, 2012, 10:43 am

    Nice story. Always think positive.

  • Palki Arora October 10, 2012, 1:42 am

    Very nice story to think enthusiastically with positive approach….!!!!!

  • Rita October 8, 2012, 10:47 pm

    Nice story and Jerry is lucky to be alive, also I like to be positive in life with the help of this morning prayer.

    I can do all things through Christ who strenghten me.

  • Kieth October 8, 2012, 9:26 am

    I must choose the positive side of my life! With God’s guidance, I can do it!!!

  • Shanmugapriya October 6, 2012, 10:02 am

    Ya….very nice… I think positive thoughts are very powerful for life!!!

  • Nwabuike October 5, 2012, 4:52 pm

    The positiveness awarded to this story wasn’t enough. To me, I call wonders of the minded, how I wish I could think like my dear friend Jerry, he is a positive thinker indeed.

  • Deepika October 5, 2012, 5:49 am

    Great Story!!!!!!!!

  • Alex September 26, 2012, 6:40 am

    Great story! It really helpled me. Life is really a matter of choice, my own choice and no one else’s 🙂

  • Bhe September 20, 2012, 8:08 pm

    Thank you for posting this very uplifting story..:) Yes it’s true life is a matter of choices..

  • Bismark September 18, 2012, 1:34 pm

    Or a person like him in this world

  • Bismark September 18, 2012, 1:33 pm

    Would like to meet Jerry

  • Gaurav September 18, 2012, 11:45 am

    This is a great story! Nice …………………….

  • Dhanalakshmi September 18, 2012, 1:06 am

    I like this story very much. It changed my life and thought.

  • Sadhana September 12, 2012, 7:20 am

    Love the story, hard to live such life, but not impossible.

  • Ravi September 10, 2012, 7:06 am

    Have a positive attitude in life, things will automatically turn the positive way.

  • priya September 10, 2012, 12:15 am

    Positive and Inspirational..

  • Neethi September 7, 2012, 11:15 am

    Very awesome………..

  • Sumit September 5, 2012, 11:42 pm

    This story is like oxygen to the dying motivation

  • Stephen September 4, 2012, 10:38 am

    I would like to be like Tom and Jerry.

  • Sangeetha September 4, 2012, 2:21 am

    Great positive attitude you have Jerry… very impressed and motivated tooo.

  • Ravi Mittal August 27, 2012, 5:08 am

    It’s Great loving positive story..thanks..

  • Cornel August 27, 2012, 12:57 am

    A gr8t one, I choose, I choose, I choose 2 live.

  • Hirak August 24, 2012, 2:27 pm

    Nice one, attitude and perception are the two main key things in life!

  • PINAL August 23, 2012, 12:00 am

    Really, I like this motivational & inspirational story.

  • ASHOK KR SHARMA August 21, 2012, 8:40 am

    Really I was inspired after going through this positive story.

  • Suvarna August 19, 2012, 11:31 am

    Nice, inspiring story…thanks

  • Preety August 19, 2012, 7:20 am

    Very nice story.

  • Irosha Samrnyk August 18, 2012, 1:14 am

    This kind of articles help us in our life. Request every1 to read it, understand and apply in ur life. THANKS SO MUCH

  • Priyanka Ojha August 15, 2012, 12:06 pm

    Really a great & inspiring story………If each personson could be like jerry then then their will be no problem rather then a solutions 🙂

  • Ani August 12, 2012, 9:47 am

    Wonderful

  • J.S.Sunil Kumar August 10, 2012, 10:53 pm

    Wow…nice.. I want to be like him..

  • Reena August 8, 2012, 11:23 pm

    Nice oneeeeeeeee

  • Naveen Kumar August 3, 2012, 12:45 am

    Amazing…. wonderful story it gave more enthusiasm to me…

  • ravi July 26, 2012, 6:23 am

    It’s really a worthy story to follow. I will be following this to live happily

  • Serin July 23, 2012, 8:39 am

    Indeed it’s a superb story especially for since I have come to foreign country to work and earn, however things going difficult may cos it’s just the second day… but I’ll read this everyday to inculcate this in my routine life… it’s difficult but not impossible 🙂

  • Manny July 19, 2012, 3:16 am

    Awesome story. I don’t have any words to describe the story, it helped me a lot to find passage for my elocution.

    My teachers liked this and now I choose to win and not to lose. I hope I win this elocution!!! Fingers crossed!!!

  • Divya July 6, 2012, 11:00 am

    Really superb story… It changed my life and thought…before reading this story I was very worried about one incident happened in my life but now I choose the positive side from that. This story helped me to live my life happily. Thanks a lot.

  • Aleihs July 6, 2012, 5:21 am

    Beautiful story! Truly it can awaken a weakened heart, God bless us..

  • Jinnia Verma July 5, 2012, 8:07 am

    Nice story, it prevails postiveness in all over the world.

  • Puja July 5, 2012, 2:23 am

    Really a great story provide love & help.
    Always B POSSITIVE

  • Shiva July 2, 2012, 9:57 am

    Binding my energy towards positiveness………

  • Harsh July 1, 2012, 12:48 pm

    Really nice story, and also we have to make ourselves very flexible and live with this positive attitude. So we never got any bad days in our life… agree or not.. and to live with this attitude will have to say “Jo hota hai vo bhale ke liye hota hai”.

  • Kiran June 28, 2012, 2:12 am

    A story with full of positivity….

  • Ajay June 27, 2012, 3:29 am

    Wow full on positive attitude… things keep on moving ahead whatever is the situation.

    Salute to Jerry….:)

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