Mitchell 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, Mitchell 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 Mitchell
and asked him, "I don't get it!  You can't be a positive person all of the
time.  How do you do it?"

Mitchell 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," Mitchell 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 Mitchell 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
0f reacting to it.
Several years later, I heard that Mitchell was involved in a serious
accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Mitchell was released
from the hospital with rods placed in his back.

I saw Mitchell 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, " Mitchell 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.

Mitchell 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 Mitchell.
"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."

Mitchell 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." 
 
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***ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE***