Enjoy the following true story entitled Positive Thinking.
Jerry is the manager of a restaurant in America. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone asks him how he is doing, he always replies, “If I were any better, I would be twins!”
Many of the waiters at his restaurant follow him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters follow Jerry is because of his attitude. He is a natural motivator. If an employee is having a bad day, Jerry is always there, telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
Hearing this made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, “I don’t get it! No one can be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?”
Jerry replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself, ‘I have two choices today. I can choose to be in a good mood or I can choose to be in a bad mood.’ I always 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 always 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 always choose the positive side of life.”
“But it’s not always 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 a bad mood. It’s your choice how you live your life.”
Several years later, I heard that Jerry was robbed by three armed men. 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 quickly and rushed to the hospital. 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 after the accident and asked him how he was. He declared, “If I were any better, I’d be twins. Want to see my scars?” I asked 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, after they shot me, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices. I could choose to live or choose to die. I chose to live.”
“Weren’t you scared?” 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 nurse shouting questions at me,” Jerry replied. “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. Please 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 you have the choice to either enjoy your life or hate it. Every day we have the choice to live fully.
This Sunday, July 25, we will continue our new series, “Choices”, with a teaching from Philippians 2:3-8 entitled, “Choose Your Attitude!” If you are not able to join us in-person in the building at 10:35am for the worship service, please join us Online for the Live broadcast on Facebook (Search: Honolulu AG). The recording will also be uploaded later that day to our website (honoluluag.org) and YouTube channel (Search: Honolulu Assembly of God). “Your attitude should be the kind that was shown us by Jesus Christ….” (Philippians 2:5).
Aloha and Aloha ke Akua!
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