Quote from Forum Archives on April 19, 2001, 9:48 pm

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

My wife's brother sent this to her. I think I have seen this
story before, or one similar to it. But it so exemplifies the
way I WANT to be that I'd like to share it with all of you. For
you see, every day we live, there are choices to be made. We can
either be kind, loving, merciful, and positive toward those we
live and work with, or we can do something else.

I don't know about you, but I have done it both ways. It makes
little sense to get worked up, especially about little things,
but I have to confess, I have done it. However, I have also
tried the approach that Michael tries in the story below. I like
that approach much better. Moreover, I believe it fits in
perfectly with the core message from Jesus Christ in His Sermon
on the Mount, which the writer quotes at the end of the story.

So how's this for a Word for Today - no matter what happens
today, be positive - I had the flu today. The good news is that
it came between graduate classes for me, and it gave me more time
to be with my family. Besides, I now feel better, and should be
able to resume my always busy lifestyle tomorrow. Meanwhile, if
Jesus decides to come and take me with Him tonight, I will be
ready. My prayer is that each of you will also be ready for Him,
and heed His Word - don't worry!

Brother Brian

--- brenda trammell-masinick <brekatkae@yahoo.com> wrote:
Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2001 18:25:10 -0700 (PDT)
From: brenda trammell-masinick <brekatkae@yahoo.com>

This was sent to me by two people, so I thought it
best to send it to my entire address book. It is so
true as our mindset is what sets the outlook for the
day.
Note: forwarded message attached.

__________________________________________________
Subject: [Fwd: I liked this, so I thought maybe you would :)]

CHOOSE HOW YOU START YOUR DAY TOMORROW ...

(if only we could ALL remain so positive!!)

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 would 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 a positive person all of
the time. How do you do it?"

Michael replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself,
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...I can 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's not 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
affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad
mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your
life."

I reflected on what Michael said. Soon hereafter, I left
the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch,
but I often thought about him when I made a choice about
life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I
heard that Michael was involved in a serious accident,
falling some 60 feet from a communications tower. After 18
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 I 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 be born daughter,"
Michael replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, 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? 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 ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of
the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their yes,
I 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 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, "Gravity." Over
their laughter, I told them, "I am 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 the choice to live fully. Attitude,
after all, is everything.

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will
worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its
own." Matthew 6:34

After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.
You have two choices now: 1. Delete this. 2. Forward it to
the people you care about. You know the choice I made.

See ya later, alligator! 🙂
-------------------------------------------

In a while, crocodile! 😉

=====
--
Brian Masinick, "The Mas", mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: www.geocities.com/masinick/
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