Jerryrelied,
"EachmorningIwakeuandsaytomyself,Jerryyouhavetwochoicestoday。Youcanchoosetobeinagoodmoodoryoucanchoosetobeinabadmood。Ichoosetobeinagoodmood。Eachtimesomethingbadhaens,IcanchoosetobeavictimorIcanchoosetolearnfromit。Ichoosetolearnfromit。Everytimesomeonecomestomecomlaining,IcanchoosetoaccettheircomlainingorIcanointouttheositivesideoflife。Ichoosetheositivesideoflife。Lifeisallaboutchoices。
"
IthoughtaboutwhatJerrysaid。Soon,Ilefttherestaurantbusinesstoursuemyownbusiness。Welosttouch,butIoftenthoughtabouthimwhenImadeachoiceaboutlifeinsteadofreactingtolife。
Severalyearslater,IheardthatJerryhaddonesomethingyouareneversuosedtodointherestaurantbusiness:hehadleftthebackdooroenonemorningandthreearmedrobberswalkedin,andheldhimuatgunoint。Whiletryingtooenthesafe,hegotnervousandhishandsliedoffthecombination。Therobbersgotnervousandblewaholethroughhishandandthenthreerightthroughthemiddleofhisabdomen。Helaythereonthefloordyingasthearamedicswerecalled。Theyrushedhimtothelocaltraumacenterandhewasinsurgeryfor18hoursandintensivecaresforweeks,andfinallyemergedfromthehositalamonthlaterwithfragmentsofthebulletsstillinhisbody。
IsawJerryaboutsixmonthslater。WhenIaskedhimhowhewas,herelied,
"IfIwereanybetter,Idbetwins。Wannaseemyscars?
"Ideclinedtoseehiswounds,butIdidaskhimwhathadgonethroughhismindwhentherobberywashaening。
"Thefirstthingthatwentthroughmymind,
"Jerryrelied,
"wasthatIshouldhavelockedthebackdoor。Then,asIwaslyingonthefloor,IwasthinkingthatIhadtwochoices:Icouldchoosetolive,orIcouldchoosetodie。Iwaschoosingtolive。
"
"Werentyoueverscared?Didyouloseconsciousness?
"Iasked。
Jerrycontinuedthestory,
"Thearamedicsweregreat。TheykettellingmeIwasgoingtobefine。Butwhentheywheeledmeintotheemergencyroom,IgotreallyscaredwhenIsawtheexressionsonthedoctors,andnursesfaces。TheyalllookedlikeIwasadeadman。IknewIneededtotakeaction。
"
"Whatdidyoudo?
"Iasked。
"Well,therewasabig,burlynurseshoutingatme,Jerry,areyouallergictoanything?Yes,Ishoutedback。What?sheasked。Thedoctorsandnursesstoedandwaitedformyrely。Itookadeebreathandyelled,Bullets!Theyallstartedlaughing,andItoldthem,Look,Iamchoosingtolive。OerateonmeasifIamalivingman,notadeadman。
"
Jerrylivedinartbecauseofhisdoctors,butinlargeartbecauseofhisindomitableattitude。