Attitude is everything

态度决定一切

Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had 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!”

杰瑞是那种让你想恨一恨的家伙。他天天都有好心情，总能说带有正能量的话。当有人问到他最近过得怎么样，他会回答说，“如果我能再好点，我就有个双胞胎兄弟了。”

He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude, he was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

他是一个特别的经理，因为他有好几个服务员跟随他从这家餐馆到另外一家餐馆。服务员跟随杰瑞的原因是因为他的态度，他天生就是个发动机。如果员工今天过得不好，杰瑞就会告诉那个员工怎样以积极的方式看待事情。

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, “I don’t get it! You can’t be a positive, up person all the time. How do you do it?”

看到这样让我心生好奇，有一天我找到杰瑞然后问他，“我不懂！你不可能一直都这么积极向上。你是怎么做到的？”

Jerry replied, “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. Each time something bad happens, 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.”

杰瑞回应道，“每天早上我醒来我都会问我自己，“杰瑞，今天你有两个选择。你可以选择拥抱好心情，你也可以选择拥抱坏心情，”我选择去拥抱好心情。每次有不好的事情发生，我选择从里面学到东西。每次有人跑过来跟我抱怨，我选择去接受他们的抱怨或者我指出生活积极的一面。我选择积极地生活。”

“Yeah, right, it’s not that easy,” I protested.

“你说得对，但是不容易做到，”我辩解道。

“Yes it is,” Jerry 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 will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good or bad mood. The bottom line: it’s your choice how you live life.”

“是的。”杰瑞说。“人生充满选择。当你去掉所有不好的东西，每一种境遇都是一个选择。你选择在该境遇如何做出回应。你选择人们会怎样影响你的心情。你选择好心情或者坏心情。最重要的一点：是你选择怎样去生活。”

I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant 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 .

我回想着杰瑞所说的话。在那之后不久，我就离开了餐馆业，开始了我的新事业。我们失去了联系，不过在我做出人生选择而不是选择回应人生时我时常会想到他。

Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are not supposed to do in the 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 trauma center. 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.

几年后，我听说杰瑞做了件在餐馆业不可能做的事：一天早上他让餐馆后门敞开，被三名持枪抢劫犯劫持在枪口之下。当试着打开保险箱时，他的手，因紧张而不断颤抖，输错了密码。抢劫犯陷入恐慌然后朝他开枪。幸运的是，杰瑞很快就被发现了然后快速送到当地救治中心。在18个小时的手术以及数周的悉心护理，杰瑞带着残存在体内的子弹碎片出院了。

I saw Jerry 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 did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place.

在事故后六个月我看见杰瑞。当我问他过得怎么样，他回答道，“如果我能再好点，我就有个双胞胎兄弟了。想看我的伤疤吗？”我婉拒了，不过我有问他在当时抢劫现场他内心经历了什么。

“The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door,” Jerry replied. “Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live.”

“我首先想到的是我本来应该锁住后门的，”杰瑞回答说。“然后，当我躺在地板上，我记得我有两个选择：我能选择生或者选择死。我选择活下去。”

“Weren’t you scared? Did you lose consciousness?” I asked.

“你不害怕吗？你有没有失去意识？”我问。

Jerry continued, “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 looks 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.”

杰瑞继续说道，“护理人员都非常棒。她们不停告诉我我会没事的。不过当他们推着我进去急救室的时候我看见那里的医生和护士们脸上的表情。我害怕了。我能从他们眼里看出，“他死定了。”我知道我必须行动起来。”

“What did you do?” I asked.

“你干了什么？”我问。

“Well, 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.’”

“嗯，有个很大只的护士冲着我大声问话，”杰瑞说。“她问我是不是对什么东西过敏。“是的。”我回答说。医生和护士们停下手头的工作等着我的回答。我深吸了一口气然后大喊，“子弹！”在他们一片笑声之中，我告诉他们，“我选择活下去。帮我做手术时假装我还活着，不是个死人。””

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.

杰瑞能活下来要归功于医生们的精湛医术，不过更因为是他那令人称奇的态度。我从他身上学到每一天我们都能选择充实地生活。毕竟，态度就是一切。