Every situation is a choice...

John 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!'  

If an employee was having a bad day, John 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 and asked him, 'I don't get it!  You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?'

 He 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,' he 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 he 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 of reacting to it.
 

Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.  After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.

I saw him 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,' he 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  

He 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 John. '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.'  

He 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, and our trust in God, impacts everything.  

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.' Matthew 6:34.  

After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.  

Lonely men in Austrailia...

Single Men of Australian Mining Town Seeking 'Beauty Disadvantaged' Women

Monday , August 18, 2008

SYDNEY, Australia — 

Mayor John Molony found himself under attack Monday over comments he made to a local newspaper that read: "May I suggest if there are five blokes to every girl, we should find out where there are beauty-disadvantaged women and ask them to proceed to Mount Isa."

The mayor added that many women who already live in the remote Queensland state town seem quite happy.

"Quite often you will see walking down the street a lass who is not so attractive with a wide smile on her face," he continued. "Whether it is recollection of something previous or anticipation for the next evening, there is a degree of happiness."

The quotes, published Saturday in the Townsville Bulletin, sparked outrage among the town's female population, led to furious online debates and drew criticism from the local chamber of commerce.

"There's a lot of anger circulating among the community at the moment — a lot of passionate anger," Mount Isa Chamber of Commerce manager Patricia O'Callaghan said Monday. "There's a lot of women voicing their opinions."

Molony declined to elaborate on his comments Monday except to say they were "twisted and warped" by the newspaper.

"I've been shredded," he added, before hanging up the phone.

The situation may not be quite as dire as Molony noted. According to the 2006 census, males made up 52.6 percent of the town's population of nearly 20,000.

Local women, enraged by the mayor's comments, protested Monday, saying there aren't a lot of gems to be found among Mount Isa's men, either.

"We want an apology," local woman Rikki Loccisano told the Brisbane Times.

Pain in Louisiana...

"Jindal used his line-item veto authority to chop about 250 legislative earmarks from the state budget this week, affecting virtually every House and Senate district. Although the $16.1 million total is a tiny drop in the state's $29.7 billion operating budget, the earmarks pay for... programs...that are near and dear to their sponsors."

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/07/jindals_vetoes_breeding_distru.html

COMMENTS (26)Post a comment

"What a great state we live in, we have the 5th highest tax base in the land. The Governor gave the legislators every chance to back off of the pay raise and when they wouldn't he vetoed it, then he cut the PORK from the budget and HE needs to make amends with the legislators?? When is it time for them to make amends with the taxpayers? Jesse Jackson's little show pig, Cleo Fields, is upset in Baton Rouge because HIS money was cut from the foundation that has HIS name on it. We need better roads and less charities funded by the state, you want your charity funded: go shake a can at the intersections!"

Does your friend's car have bumper stickers????

Somebody obviously had too much time on their hands! Does this include Red Necks from my home State of Mississippi? What about Budreaux from Louisiana? ***************************************************************************************
Bumper stickers, decals can predict road rage: study finds   Misty Harris Canwest News Service Thursday, June 19, 2008 CREDIT: Herald Archive, Reuters Even if the bumper sticker ahead of you is supporting Pope Benedict, be cautious, researchers have linked such "territory markers" with road rage. The next time you think about tailgating someone, check their vehicle for bumper stickers, window decals and vanity plates. A new study shows these kinds of "territory markers" indicate whether a driver will respond to offensive behaviour with forgiveness or the finger. Researchers from Colorado State University report that personalized items on an automobile -- everything from dashboard decor to Support Our Troops stickers -- predict road rage better than vehicle value, condition or similar clues to aggression behind the wheel. What surprised study authors most, however, was the fact the content of the items had no bearing on levels of hostility. "You'd think the guy that has the bumper sticker that says My Kid Beat Up Your Honour Student would be more aggressive than the guy whose sticker reads My Kid is an Honour Student, but that's not the case," said Paul Bell, professor of psychology at Colorado State University. "It's just the fact that there's a bumper sticker there in the first place." The findings, published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, were part of a multi-year study involving more than 500 drivers. Aggression was measured through such activities as honking, tailgating, blocking traffic or trying to run another driver off the road. "Territory markers" included anything of a personal nature: decorative seat covers, vanity plates, window decals and other adornments. Drivers who had at least one marker in or on their car were 15 per cent more likely to retaliate when they felt their territory had been threatened, reported study co-author William Szlemko. "We have a lot of instincts that animals have," he said. "Many people respond as if the violation took place in their home and not in a public place." Put simply, Szlemko explained that these drivers really do think they "own the road." The social psychologist suggested this is because of the blurred line between the public territory of the road and the private territory of the vehicle. © The Calgary Herald 2008

...the endless pursuit of stuff

"We can't say we haven't been warned about this endless pursuit of stuff..."

"When none of this brings the promised happiness and fulfillment, we turn to drink, or pills, or counselors, or divorce court and seek significance in new things and relationships on what quickly becomes a personal boulevard of broken dreams.

We can't say we haven't been warned about this endless pursuit of stuff. The writer of Ecclesiastes wrote, "Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them?" (Ecclesiastes 5:10-11)

When wants and needs are confused, desires become entitlements and politicians are afraid to tell people what they need to hear. Instead they tell them what they want to hear. Anger and envy result, as well as frustration with a political system that was not designed to indulge its citizens in their lusts or subsidize their greed.

...We are bad for believing that more is better and the most is best. We have an abundance of things, but a deficit of character. The economy is a false god, a golden calf. When this false god doesn't deliver, we complain to politicians who are happy to accept our faith in them to give us what we want - if we will only pledge to them our allegiance at election time."

Cal Thomas