杰瑞是那种不讨人喜欢的人。他总是情绪很好，说积极的话。有人问他过得怎样，他就会回答：“如果再好一点，我就是奇迹了。”
他是一个与众不同的经理，因为他有几个伙计，一直跟着他从一个餐馆来到另一个餐馆。伙计跟着他，是因为他的态度。他天生会鼓励人。如果有个雇员情绪不好，杰瑞就教他如何去看待境遇的积极的一面。
这种风格让我很好奇，所以，一天我到杰瑞那里问他“我不理解，你不可能总是有这么积极的态度，你是怎么做到的？”
杰瑞回答“每天早晨醒来我对自己说，杰瑞，你今天有两个选择，你可以选择好情绪，也可以选择坏情绪，我选择了好情绪；每次发生不好的事情，我可以选择只当受害者，也可以选择经当验获得者，我选择了经验获得者；每次有人向我抱怨，我可以选择接受他们的抱怨，也可以选择找出生活积极的一面，我选择找出生活积极的一面。”
“你是对的，可还是没有那么容易，”我反驳道。
“很容易，”杰瑞说：“生活完全是选择，当你除去没有用的东西，每种情况都是选择。怎么应对各种情况完全在你自己，别人怎么影响你的情绪在于你自己，高兴或不高兴是你自己的选择。底线是：你怎么生活是你自己的选择。”
我对杰瑞所说的话做了思考。后来我离开了餐饮业，创建了自己的事业。我们失去了联系，但我在对生活做选择而不是对抗的时候，我总会想起他。
几年后，我听说杰瑞做了餐饮界人士不该做的事情：一天上午，他没锁后门。他遭到了几个持枪劫匪的抢劫。
在开保险箱时，他的手紧张得直发抖，弄错了密码。惊恐的劫匪向他开了枪。幸运的是，杰瑞被及时发现，赶紧送到了当地的外伤中心。
经过18个小时的外科手术和数周的重病特别护理之后，杰瑞出院了，但体内还带着子弹的碎片。
那件事发生了6个月之后，我见到了杰瑞。我问他过得怎样时，他回答：“如果再好一点，我就是奇迹了。你想看伤疤码？”
我没看伤疤，倒问了他抢劫发生时他想了些什么。
“我想的第一件事是，我本该锁后门的。”杰瑞回答，“后来，躺在地上时，我想起我有两个选择：我可以选择生，也可以选择死，我选择了生。”
“你不害怕吗？有没有失去知觉？”我问。
杰瑞接着说：“救护人员真的很棒，他们一直说我会好起来。但当他们把我推到急诊室，我看到医生和护士脸上的表情时，我吓坏了。从他们的眼睛里，我读出这样的意思：‘他是个死人。’我知道我需要采取行动了。”
“你做了什么？”我问。
“嗯，有一个高大结实的护士问了一些问题”杰瑞说：“她问我是否对什么东西过敏，‘是’我说。医生和护士都停下工作等着答案。我深深地吸了一口气然后大声说‘子弹！’我通过他们的笑声告诉他们，我选择活下去，把我当活人来进行手术，而不是死人。”
杰瑞活了下来，这是因为医生的医术，更是因为他惊人的态度。我知道他每天都做让自己活得充实的选择。
毕竟态度是最重要的。
The Brick
About ten years ago， a young and very successful executive named Josh was traveling down a Chicago neighborhood street. He was going a bit too fast in his sleek， black， 12 cylinder Jaguar XKE， which was only two months old.
He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed， no child darted out， but a brick sailed out and - WHUMP！ - it smashed Into the Jag’s shiny black side door！ SCREECH..！！！！ Brakes slammed！ Gears ground into reverse， and tires madly spun the Jaguar back to the spot from where the brick had been thrown. Josh jumped out of the car， grabbed the kid and pushed him up against a parked car. He shouted at the kid， “What was that all about and who are you？ Just what the heck are you doing？！” Building up a head of steam， he went on. “That’s my new Jag， that brick you threw is gonna cost you a lot of money. Why did you throw it？”
“Please， mister， please. . . I‘m sorry！ I didn’t know what else to do！” Pleaded the youngster. “I threw the brick because no one else would stop！” Tears were dripping down the boy’s chin as he pointed around the parked car. “It’s my brother， mister，” he said. “He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can‘t lift him up.” Sobbing， the boy asked the executive， “Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair？ He’s hurt and he’s too heavy for me.”
Moved beyond words， the young executive tried desperately to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. Straining， he lifted the young man back into the wheelchair and took out his handkerchief and wiped the scrapes and cuts， checking to see that everything was going to be OK. He then watched the younger brother push him down the sidewalk toward their home.
It was a long walk back to the sleek， black， shining， 12 cylinder Jaguar XKE -a long and slow walk. Josh never did fix the side door of his Jaguar. He kept the dent to remind him not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at him to get his attention. . . Some bricks are softer than others. Feel for the bricks of life coming at to you. For all the negative things we have to say to ourselves， God has positive answers.
