Rob 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, Rob would reply, "If I were any
>better, I would be twins!"
>
>
>He was a natural motivator.
>
>
>If an employee was having a bad day, Rob 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 Rob and
>asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time.
>How do you do it?"
>
>
>Rob 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," Rob 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 Rob said. Soon thereafter, 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 Rob was involved in a serious accident,
>falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.
>
>
>After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Rob was released from
>the hospital with rods placed in his back.
>
>
>I saw Rob 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," Rob 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.
>
>
>Rob 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 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 burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Rob. "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." Rob 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.