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.
迈克尔是那种你总想恨一恨的家伙。他总是能保持良好的情绪，总是能说出很多积极的话来。如果有人问他近况怎样，他就会答道“如果我能再好点的话，那我一定还可以再分身成两个人呢！”他是天生的乐观派。

如果哪位雇员的一天过的并不如意的话，迈克尔就会告诉他怎样去从事情好的方面去看待问题。他处理事情的这种方式让我很是好奇，于是有一天，我找到迈克尔问道“我不太明白，你不可能一直这么乐观的吧？！你是怎样做到的？”

他回答我说，每天早上我一醒来就会对自己说，“麦克，今天你有两种选择，你可以选择好心情当然也可以选择坏心情，于是我就会选择让自己心情好起来；每当有不好的事情发生，我可以选择成为受害者，也可以选择从中学到东西，于是我就会选择从这件事中总结教训，从而明白一些道理；每当有人到我这里来抱怨时，我可以选择接受他们的抱怨，也可以选择为他们指出生活中的积极面，我选择后者。”

“是这样没错，但却并不容易做到啊”我质疑道。

“其实要做到并不难，”迈克尔说，“生活中充满了选择，当你把所有多余的东西删掉时，就只剩下选择了。你选择怎样去应对生活中的种种情形，你选择他人如何影响你的情绪，你选择要自己的心情好还是坏。说到底，最终还是你自己选择该去怎样生活。”我默默揣摩着迈克尔的这番话。

不久之后，我离开工作了多年的大企业开始自己创业，我们便失去了联系。每当我对生活中的种种做出选择而不是去消极应对时，我时常会想起迈克尔。没过几年，我便听说他遭遇了一起很严重的事故—从一座通讯大楼的60英尺处摔了下来。

在历时18小时的手术抢救以及随后数周的精心呵护之后，迈克尔出院了，他的后背被植入了钢棍。我问他感觉怎样，他回答我说“如果我能再好点的话，那我一定还可以再分身成两个人呢！想要见识一下我的疤痕吗？”我拒绝了，但却问了他在事故发生的那一刻脑中在想些什么。

“我所想的第一件事就是我即将出世的女儿以后的幸福生活，”迈克尔回答我说，“当我躺在地上的时候，我依然牢记我还有两种选择，我可以选择继续活下去，也可以选择就这样死去，我要活下去。”“你当时不害怕吗，有没有失去知觉呢？”我问。迈克尔继续说道，“那些救护人员棒极了，他们不停的告诉我说我会好起来的。但当他们把我推进手术室时，我分明看见了那些医护人员脸上的表情，我很害怕。他们眼神里所流露出来的神情明明就是在说，‘这是一个死人’。我知道自己必须要有所行动才行。”“你是怎样做的？”我问他，“哦，有一个人高马大的护士冲我问问题，”迈克尔回忆道，“她问我是否对什么东西过敏。‘是的’我说于是医生和护士们都停下手中的活儿等我回答。我深吸一口气，笑着说 “地心引力”，在他们的笑声中，我说“我选择继续活下去，希望你们为我做手术时把我看成是有生命的，而不是一具死尸。”

迈克尔活了下来，多亏了那些医术高明的医生，当然还有他自己那令人惊叹的态度。

迈克尔让我懂得了一个道理，那就是人生中的每一天我们都可以选择充实的活着，态度决定一切。