I wish I could take credit for writing the following post but I can’t. It isn’t about teeth or smiles, but it is about attitude. With so many patients experiencing various changes during these hard economic times, I wanted to share this amazing philosophy. Dr. Ross Headley
author unknown – thanks for the inspiration!
“Michael is the kind of guy some love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When asked how he was doing, he’d 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.
“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 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 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 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 chose 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 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 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’m 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 life fully. Attitude is everything.”
