“Life is a matter of choices and every choice you make makes you.” – John.Maxwell
Friend…! What’re your thoughts on choosing life, positivity and happiness..? It’s completely in your hands to choose a life that you want and the way you want it. After all, life is full of choices that you make consciously or unconsciously. If you must make a choice, then why don’t you make a choice that enhances and enriches your life…? Sound exciting…?
Here is an interesting story of a restaurant manager (Viveka) who always looked at life positively and spread the inspiration around. I request you to assume the other “I” in the story who is curious about Viveka’s positive attitude.
Viveka is the manager of a restaurant. He is always in a good mood. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would always reply, “If I were any better, I would be twins!“
Many of the waiters at his restaurant quit their jobs when he changed jobs, so they could follow him around from restaurant to restaurant…because Viveka was a normal motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Viveka was always 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 Viveka and asked him, “I don’t get it! No one can be a positive person all the time. How do you do it?” Viveka 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. Each 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,” Viveka 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. It’s your choice how you live your life.”
Several years later, I heard that Viveka accidentally did something you are never supposed to do in the restaurant business. He left the back door of his restaurant open and then in the morning, he was robbed by three armed men. While Viveka trying to open the safe box, his hand shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Viveka was found quickly and rushed to the hospital. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Viveka was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.
I saw Viveka about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, “If I were any better, I’d be twins. Want to see my scars?” I declined to see his wounds but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place.
“The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have looked the back door,” Viveka replied, “Then after they shot me as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or could choose to die. I choose to live.”
“Weren’t you scared?” I asked. Viveka continued, “The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they moved me into the Emergency Room and I saw the expression on the faces of the doctors and nurses. I got really scared. In their eyes, 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 nurse shouting questions at me,” said Viveka.
“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, “Bullets!”
“Once their laughter,” I told them, “I am choosing to live. Please operate on me as if I am alive, not dead!”
Viveka lived. Thanks to 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 your life or to hate it.
Thus said, friend…! Make a conscious choice today to live your life remarkably well forever and ever to be the way you want it. Forget not, a choice is always yours. Life is once, let’s make it happier and joyful.
