An optimistic and enterprising spirit

Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate.He was always in a good mood.When asked,he would reply,“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.”

Several years later,I heard that Jerry did something wrong he is 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 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 about six months after the accident.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 performances felt inherently（固有地；天生地）shallow,lacking in depth and details because I had nothing of my own to contribute to the masterful compositions of Bach or Rachmaninov.

杰里真是個讓人喜歡得不行的家伙。他總是心情愉快、情緒高漲。當人們問他時，杰里回答說：“每天早上醒來后我對自己說，‘杰里，今天你有兩個選擇。你可以選擇一個好心情，也可以選擇一個壞心情。'我選擇了好心情。”

幾年之后，我聽說杰里犯了個在餐飲業不該犯的錯誤：一天早晨，他沒關后門，三個持槍匪徒走進來，拿槍指著他。當他們試圖打開保險箱時，他由于緊張，手從保險鎖上滑下來。匪徒緊張之下開槍打穿了他的手，接著又有三枚子彈正中他的腹部。

幸運的是，杰里很快就被人發現了，他們很快將他送到了當地的醫院。經過18小時的手術和幾星期的悉心護理，他終于出院了，體內還殘留著子彈的碎片。

那件事之后六個月后我見到了杰里。我問他在搶劫案發生的時候，他腦子里在想些什么。杰里回答說：“我首先想的是我要是把后門鎖上就好了，”但是那時當我躺在地板上的時候，我想到自己有兩個選擇：我可以選擇生，或選擇死。我選擇了生。”

“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.”

“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.

“醫生們很好，他們不斷地告訴我我會好起來的。但當他們推我進急救室時，我看到醫生和護士臉上的表情，我覺得很害怕。他們臉上寫著‘這個人要死了。'我知道我該采取些行動了。”

“當時有個牛高馬大的護士朝我喊：‘杰里，你對什么東西過敏嗎?'‘有，'我喊回去。‘是什么？'她問。醫生和護士們都停下來等我回答。我深深吸了口氣，喊道：“子彈！”

“他們全笑起來，接著我對他們說：‘瞧，我選擇要活下來。給我動手術，把我當成個活人而不是死人來醫治。”

杰里活了下來，部分原因是醫生的醫術高明，但更主要是因為他那不屈不撓的態度，我從他那里學到每天我們完全可以選擇生活。

畢竟，態度能決定一切。