Pepe’s storyPepe was the kind of person you wanted to be. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. When someone asked him how he was doing, he replied: “Better, impossible”He had changed jobs and several of his employees followed him through all his changes. The reason they followed him was his attitude: he was a natural motivator. If an employee had a bad day, Pepe was there to tell him how to see the positive side of the situation.One day I went to look for Pepe and asked him: “I don’t understand you… it’s not possible for a person to be positive all the time. How you do that?…”Pepe replied: “Every morning, I wake up and say to myself, “Pepe, you have two options today: you can choose to be in a good mood or in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood. Every time something bad happens, I can choose between being a victim or learning from it. And I choose learning from it”.“Every time someone comes to me to complain, I can either accept their complaint or I can show them the positive side of life. I choose to show them the positive side of life.” “OK, but it’s not that easy”, I protested.“Yes, it is”, said Pepe. “Everything in life is made up of choices. When you throw away everything else, every situation is a choice. You choose how to react to each situation, you choose how people will affect your mood, you choose to be in a good mood or in a bad mood. In short: YOU CHOOSE HOW TO LIVE LIFE.”I reflected on what Pepe told me… For reasons of residence, we lost contact, but I often thought of Pepe when he had to make a choice in life, instead of reacting against it.Several years later, I learned that Pepe had done something he should never have done in a business; he left the back door open and one morning was assaulted by three armed robbers.As he tried to open the safe, his hand, shaking with nervousness, missed the combination. The robbers felt panic and fired. Pepe was quickly found and rushed to a clinic. After eight hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Pepe was discharged, but still with bullet fragments in his body…I met Pepe six months after the accident and when I asked him how he was, he replied: “Better, impossible”.I asked what was on his mind at the time of the robbery. He answered: “When I was lying on the floor, I remembered that I had two options: I could choose to live or I could choose to die. I CHOOSE TO LIVE”.“Didn’t you feel scared?” I asked. Pepe continued: “The doctors were brilliant. They kept telling me that I would be fine. But when they took me to the operating room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, it really scared me. I could read in his eyes: “You are a dead man.” So I knew I had to make a decision.”“What did you do?” – I asked. Pepe said: “Well, one of the doctors asked me if I was allergic to anything and I, taking a deep breath, shouted: – “Yes, to bullets” – While they laughed, I told them: “I’m choosing to live, operate me as if I were alive, not dead”.Pepe lived because of the doctors expertise, but above all, because of HIS SPECTACULAR ATTITUDE. I learned that EACH DAY, WE HAVE THE CHOICE to live fully. ATTITUDE, finally, is everything.In the end, the decision to how are you, how do you see yourself, how do you feel, how do you live, IT’S YOURS!(…) Those who fail are the ones who stop seeing the positive part of their life and achievements… (…)(…)
Estranged Blog 