Michael is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I'd be twins!" He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, Michael 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 Michael and asked him, "I don' t get it. You can' t be positive all the time. How do you do it?"

Michael replied, each morning I wake up and say to myself 'Mike, 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 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."

"Yeah, right. It isn't that easy." I protested.

"Yes it is, " Michael 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 bad mood. The bottom line is: It's your choice how you live life. " I reflected on what Michael said.

Soon thereafter, I left the big enterprise that I had worked in for years to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often though about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard Michael was involved in a serious accident, falling off 60 feet from a communications tower.

After l8 hours of surgery, and weeks of intensive care, Michael was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back. I saw Michael about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?" I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

"The first thing that went through my mind was the well being of my soon-to-born daughter," Michael replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, remembered I had two choices: I could choose to live or I could choose to die. I chose to live." "Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked. Michael continued, "... the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the operation room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, l read 'He's a dead man.' I knew I needed to take action." "What did you do?" I asked. "Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me" said Michael. "She asked me if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes,' I said. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled", 'Gravity'" Over their laughter, I told them, 'I'm choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead'."

Michael lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude.

I learned from him that every day we have a choice to live fully. Attitude is everything.
邁克爾是那種你總想恨一恨的家伙。他總是能保持良好的情緒，總是能說出很多積極的話來。如果有人問他近況怎樣，他就會答道“如果我能再好點的話，那我一定還可以再分身成兩個人呢！”他是天生的樂觀派。

如果哪位雇員的一天過的并不如意的話，邁克爾就會告訴他怎樣去從事情好的方面去看待問題。他處理事情的這種方式讓我很是好奇，于是有一天，我找到邁克爾問道“我不太明白，你不可能一直這么樂觀的吧？！你是怎樣做到的？”

他回答我說，每天早上我一醒來就會對自己說，“麥克，今天你有兩種選擇，你可以選擇好心情當然也可以選擇壞心情，于是我就會選擇讓自己心情好起來；每當有不好的事情發生，我可以選擇成為受害者，也可以選擇從中學到東西，于是我就會選擇從這件事中總結教訓，從而明白一些道理；每當有人到我這里來抱怨時，我可以選擇接受他們的抱怨，也可以選擇為他們指出生活中的積極面，我選擇后者。”

“是這樣沒錯，但卻并不容易做到啊”我質疑道。

“其實要做到并不難，”邁克爾說，“生活中充滿了選擇，當你把所有多余的東西刪掉時，就只剩下選擇了。你選擇怎樣去應對生活中的種種情形，你選擇他人如何影響你的情緒，你選擇要自己的心情好還是壞。說到底，最終還是你自己選擇該去怎樣生活?！蔽夷χ~克爾的這番話。

不久之后，我離開工作了多年的大企業開始自己創業，我們便失去了聯系。每當我對生活中的種種做出選擇而不是去消極應對時，我時常會想起邁克爾。沒過幾年，我便聽說他遭遇了一起很嚴重的事故—從一座通訊大樓的60英尺處摔了下來。

在歷時18小時的手術搶救以及隨后數周的精心呵護之后，邁克爾出院了，他的后背被植入了鋼棍。我問他感覺怎樣，他回答我說“如果我能再好點的話，那我一定還可以再分身成兩個人呢！想要見識一下我的疤痕嗎？”我拒絕了，但卻問了他在事故發生的那一刻腦中在想些什么。

“我所想的第一件事就是我即將出世的女兒以后的幸福生活，”邁克爾回答我說，“當我躺在地上的時候，我依然牢記我還有兩種選擇，我可以選擇繼續活下去，也可以選擇就這樣死去，我要活下去。”“你當時不害怕嗎，有沒有失去知覺呢？”我問。邁克爾繼續說道，“那些救護人員棒極了，他們不停的告訴我說我會好起來的。但當他們把我推進手術室時，我分明看見了那些醫護人員臉上的表情，我很害怕。他們眼神里所流露出來的神情明明就是在說，‘這是一個死人’。我知道自己必須要有所行動才行?！薄澳闶窃鯓幼龅?？”我問他，“哦，有一個人高馬大的護士沖我問問題，”邁克爾回憶道，“她問我是否對什么東西過敏。‘是的’我說于是醫生和護士們都停下手中的活兒等我回答。我深吸一口氣，笑著說 “地心引力”，在他們的笑聲中，我說“我選擇繼續活下去，希望你們為我做手術時把我看成是有生命的，而不是一具死尸?！?/P>

邁克爾活了下來，多虧了那些醫術高明的醫生，當然還有他自己那令人驚嘆的態度。

邁克爾讓我懂得了一個道理，那就是人生中的每一天我們都可以選擇充實的活著，態度決定一切。