CHOOSE WISELY

CHOOSE WISELY

 Consider the following story to identify the primary attitude that rules and reigns over your life.

 Jerry is the manager of a restaurant and he is always in a good mood.  When someone asks him how he is doing, he always replies: “If I were any better, I would be twins!” The waiters at his restaurant would gladly quit their jobs if Jerry changed employers, so they could follow him wherever he landed.

 Why?  Because Jerry is a natural motivator.  If an employee is having a bad day, Jerry is always there, telling her 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 said: “I don't get it!  No one can be positive 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.  Every 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, each situation is a choice.  You choose how you react to situations.  You choose how people affect your mood.  You can choose a good mood or bad mood.  It’s your choice how you live your life!”

 Several years later, Jerry accidentally did something you should never do in the business.  He left the back door of his restaurant wide open.  The next morning, he was robbed by three armed men.  As Jerry tried to open the safe, his hand trembled and slipped off the combination lock.  The robbers panicked and shot him.  Fortunately, Jerry was found quickly and rushed to the hospital.  After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was finally released from the hospital, but fragments of the bullets were still in his body.

 I saw Jerry six months after the incident.  When I asked how he was, he replied, “If I were any better, I’d be twins!  Want to see my scars?”  I declined to look at his wounds, but did ask what went through his mind while the robbery took place.

 “The first thing that went through my mind was I should have locked the door,” Jerry replied. “Then, after they shot me and 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” I asked?  Jerry continued, “The paramedics were great.  They kept telling me I was going to be fine.  But when they rushed me into the Emergency Room, I saw the expression on the faces of the doctors and nurses and got really scared.  In their eyes, I read ‘He's a dead man.’  I knew then that I needed to take action.”

 “What did you do?” I asked.  “Well, there was a big nurse shouting questions at me,” said Jerry.  “She asked if I was allergic to anything.”  “Yes, to bullets!” I replied.  Over their laughter, I told them: “I choose to live! Please operate on me as if I am alive…not dead.”

 Jerry did live, thanks to God and 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 life or hate it.  The only thing that is truly yours – that no one can control or take from you – is your attitude.  So if you can take care of that, everything else in life becomes much easier.

 My friend, your life is waiting…choose wisely!

 Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed, and please (above all else) MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO MEET OUR SOON COMING KING.  Maranatha!