每天早上醒来我都告诉自己说：“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。

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，总能说出积极的话来。每当别人问他一切可好时，他就回答：“好得不能再好了！”

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.

他是个与众不同的经理，有好几个服务员都跟着他在不同的餐厅做过。他们跟着杰里是因为他的生活态度。他天生善于激励人，如果哪个雇员不走运了，杰里就会告诉他要往好的一面看。

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 person all of the time. How do you do it?"

我对他的生活态度深感好奇，于是有一天我走到杰里跟前问他：“我不明白！你不可能事事都顺心，你是怎样做到一直都这么积极乐观的呢？”

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 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."

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；每次有坏事发生时，我可以选择成为受害者,也可以选择从中及吸取教训，我选择了从中吸取教训；每当有人向我抱怨时，我可以选择听他们抱怨，或者给他们指出生活中积极的一面，我选择了指出生活中积极的一面。”

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

“对，话是没错，可是做起来可不容易。”我说。

"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 mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It’s your choice how you live life."

杰里说：“其实也容易，生活就是由很多选择组成的，出去那些不值一提的事情，那么生活中的每件事都是个选择。你可以选择如何回应这些事件。你可以选择周围人影响你心情的方式。你可以选择有个好心情或是坏心情。重点是：你可以选择如何来过你的生活。”

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.

我仔细地考虑着杰里的话。不久后，我离开餐厅业去追求个人发展。我们失去了联系，但每当我对生活做抉择而非被动接受生活时，我就会想起杰里。

Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are 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.

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。