ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING

      Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was the type of person who was always in a good mood, always up, 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!”

    I met Jerry when I was a young manager in the restaurant industry. 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, up person all 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. Life is all about choices.”

    I thought about what Jerry said. Soon, I left the restaurant business to pursue my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choiceabout life instead of reacting to life.

      Several years later, I heard that Jerry had done something you are never supposed to do in the restaurant business: he had left the back door open one morning and three armed robbers walked in, and 1)held him up at 2)gunpoint. While trying to open the safe, he got nervous and his hand slipped off the 3)combination. The robbers got nervous and blew a hole through his hand and then three right through the middle of his 4)abdomen. He lay there on the floor dying as the 5)paramedics were called. They rushed him to the local 6)trauma center and he was in 7)surgery for 18 hours and intensive cares for weeks, and finally emerged 1 from the hospital a month later with fragments of the bullets still in his body.

     I saw Jerry about six months later. When I asked him how he was, he replied, “If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars 2?” I declined 3 to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind when the robbery was happening.

     “The first thing that went through my mind,” Jerry replied, “was that I shouldhave locked the back door. Then, as I was lying on the floor, I was thinking that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I was choosing to live.”

     “Weren't you ever scared? Did you lose 8)consciousness?” I asked.

     Jerry continued the story, “The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room, I got really scared when I saw the expressions on the doctors and nurses' faces. They all looked like I was a dead man. I knew I needed to take action.”

     “What did you do?” I asked.

     “Well, there was a big, 9)burly nurse shouting at me, 'Jerry, are you 10)allergic to anything?' ‘Yes,' I shouted back. 'What?' she asked. The doctors and nurses stopped and waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled 4, 'Bullets!' They all started laughing, and I told them, 'Look, I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am a living man, not a dead man.' "

Jerry lived in part because of his doctors, but in large part because of his 11)indomitable attitude.

态度最重要

          法兰西 杰弗逊

　  杰里真是个招人恨的家伙。他是这样一种人--总是心情快乐、情绪高涨，总能说出积极的话来。当别人问他一切可好时，他就回答：”再好我就是双胞胎了！”

　  认识杰里的时候，我还年轻，是一家餐饮公司的经理。他则是个与众不同的经理，因为到每家餐馆都有一些服务员围着他团团转。服务员围着杰里转是因为他的态度。他天生善于激励人。如果哪个雇员不走运了，杰里就去告诉他要往事情好的一面看。

　  看到他如此作风我甚感好奇，于是一天我走到杰里跟前问他：”我不明白！你不可能一直保持积极乐观吧。你是怎么做的呢？”

　  杰里回答说：”每天早上醒来后我对自己说：‘杰里，今天你有两个选择。你可以选择一个好心情，也可以选择一个坏心情。’我选择了好心情。每次坏事发生时，我可以选择成为受害者，也可以选择从中吸取教训。我选择了从中吸取教训。每当有人向我抱怨时，我可以选择听他们抱怨，或者给他们指出生活积极的一面。我选择了指出生活积极的一面。生活就是由许多选择组成的。”

　  我仔细地考虑着杰里的话。不久后，我离开餐饮公司去追求个人发展。我们失去了联系，但是每当我对生活做抉择而非被动于生活的时候，就常常想起他。

　  几年之后，我听说杰里做了件在餐饮业里难以想像到的事情：一天早晨，他没关后门，三个持枪匪徒走进来，拿枪指着他。开保险箱的时候，他由于紧张，手从保险锁上滑下来。匪徒紧张之下开枪打穿了他的手，接着又有三枚子弹正中他的腹部。别人打电话叫医生的时候，他躺在地板上奄奄一息。他们赶紧把他送到当地的伤疗中心，经过18个小时的手术和几个星期的悉心护理后，过了一个月，他终于出院了。体内还残留着子弹的碎片。

　  六个月后我见到了杰里。我问他身体怎样了，他答道：”再好我就是双胞胎了。想不想看看我的伤疤？”我没看他的伤疤，但我问他在抢劫案发生的时候，他脑子里在想些什么。

　 “我首先想的，”杰里回答，”是我要是把后门锁上就好了。接着躺在地板上的时候，我想到自己有两个选择：我可以选择生，或者选择死。我选择了生。”

   “你难道一点也不怕吗？你失去知觉了吗？”我问。

   杰里继续说：”医生很好。他们不断地告诉我我会好起来来的。但他们推我进急救室时，我看到医生和护士脸上的表情，觉得很害怕。他们看起来全似把我当成死人一般。我知道该要采取些行动了。”

   “你做了什么？”我问。

   “这个，有个牛高马大的护士朝我喊：‘杰里，你有对什么东西过敏吗？’‘有，’我喊回去。‘是什么？’她问。医生和护士们停下来等我的回答。我深深吸了口气，喊道：‘子弹！’他们全笑起来，接着我对他们说：‘瞧，我选择要活下来。给我动手术，把我当成个活人而不是死人。’”

    杰里活了下来，部分原因是他的医生医术高明，但更主要是因为他那不屈不挠的态度。

1) hold up 举起           

2) gunpoint  n. 枪口      

3) combination  n. 保险锁的暗码 

4) abdomen  n. 腹部  

5) paramedics  n. 医务人员  

6) trauma  n. 外伤，损伤

7) surgery [n. 外科，外科手术  

8) consciousness  n. 意识，知觉    9) burly  a. 魁梧的    

10) allergic  a. 过敏

11) indomitable  a. 不屈不挠