An optimistic and enterprising spirit

Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate.He was always in a good mood.When asked,he would reply,“Each morning I wake up and say to myself,‘Jerry,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.”

Several years later,I heard that Jerry did something wrong he is never supposed to do in a restaurant business:he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers.While trying to open the safe,his hand,shaking from nervousness,slipped off the combination.The robbers panicked and shot him.

Luckily,Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local hospital.After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care,Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.

I saw Jerry about six months after the accident.I asked 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 performances felt inherently（固有地；天生地）shallow,lacking in depth and details because I had nothing of my own to contribute to the masterful compositions of Bach or Rachmaninov.

杰里真是个让人喜欢得不行的家伙。他总是心情愉快、情绪高涨。当人们问他时，杰里回答说：“每天早上醒来后我对自己说，‘杰里，今天你有两个选择。你可以选择一个好心情，也可以选择一个坏心情。'我选择了好心情。”

几年之后，我听说杰里犯了个在餐饮业不该犯的错误：一天早晨，他没关后门，三个持枪匪徒走进来，拿枪指着他。当他们试图打开保险箱时，他由于紧张，手从保险锁上滑下来。匪徒紧张之下开枪打穿了他的手，接着又有三枚子弹正中他的腹部。

幸运的是，杰里很快就被人发现了，他们很快将他送到了当地的医院。经过18小时的手术和几星期的悉心护理，他终于出院了，体内还残留着子弹的碎片。

那件事之后六个月后我见到了杰里。我问他在抢劫案发生的时候，他脑子里在想些什么。杰里回答说：“我首先想的是我要是把后门锁上就好了，”但是那时当我躺在地板上的时候，我想到自己有两个选择：我可以选择生，或选择死。我选择了生。”

“The paramedics were great.They kept telling me I was going to be fine.But when they wheeled me into the emergency room 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.”

“There was a big,burly nurse shouting questions at me,” said Jerry. “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! ”

Over their laughter,I told them. “I am choosing to live.Operate on me as if I am alive,not dead.”

Jerry 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.

“医生们很好，他们不断地告诉我我会好起来的。但当他们推我进急救室时，我看到医生和护士脸上的表情，我觉得很害怕。他们脸上写着‘这个人要死了。'我知道我该采取些行动了。”

“当时有个牛高马大的护士朝我喊：‘杰里，你对什么东西过敏吗?'‘有，'我喊回去。‘是什么？'她问。医生和护士们都停下来等我回答。我深深吸了口气，喊道：“子弹！”

“他们全笑起来，接着我对他们说：‘瞧，我选择要活下来。给我动手术，把我当成个活人而不是死人来医治。”

杰里活了下来，部分原因是医生的医术高明，但更主要是因为他那不屈不挠的态度，我从他那里学到每天我们完全可以选择生活。

毕竟，态度能决定一切。