Every Day I am asked “How are You?” My response is always, “Fine, thank you” What I would really like to say is, “Yes … I am okay.”

I Have My Sight… although not perfect, I can still see the glorious sunsets, the antics of a puppy, the smile of a child, and the most important … I can see if there are any bugs in my food..

I Have My Hearing … even though impaired I can hear the music that takes the wrinkles out of my day. I can hear others tell me they love me! And every morning I can hear the snap, crackle, pop … even if it isn’t the cereal.

I Have My Sense Of Smell … although marred with allergies I could tell if the house is on fire, or the baby needs changing. Oh and isn’t it heavenly to smell that first cup of coffee in the morning?

I Still Have My Sense Of Taste … I can tell when something has gone bad or sour, even though I have to wonder about my own cooking sometimes … LoL!

I Still Have My Sense Of Touch … even though some people say I am really touched … The joy of touching another, loving another, petting your cat, makes you feel you are not alone…

I am O.K. you see.
I can walk, even though I may stumble —
I can talk, sometimes without stopping —
I can laugh, even when nothing is funny —
and I can cry, anytime I want to…..
In fact, I think I am better than just Okay !!

How about you my friend?

Read this… Let it really sink in. Then choose how you will start your day tomorrow….

Michael 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!” He was a natural motivater. If an employee was having a bad day, Michael 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 to Michael and asked him, “I don’t get it! You can’t be a positive person all of the time. “How do you do it?”

Michael replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Mike, 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, “Michael said. “Life is all about choices. When you cutaway 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 life.”

I reflected on what Michael said. Soon thereafter, 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 Michael was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Michael was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back. I saw Michael 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 accident took place.

“The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon to be born daughter,” Michael replied. “Then, as I lay on the ground, I emembered 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.

Michael 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 Michael.

“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.”

Michael 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.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

• Be understanding to your enemies.
• Be loyal to your friends.
• Be strong enough to face the world each day.
• Be weak enough to know you cannot do everything alone.
• Be generous to those who need your help.
• Be frugal with that you need yourself.
• Be wise enough to know that you do not know everything.
• Be foolish enough to believe in miracles.
• Be willing to share your joys.
• Be willing to share the sorrows of others.
• Be a leader when you see a path others have missed.
• Be a follower when you are shrouded by the mists of uncertainty.
• Be first to congratulate an opponent who succeeds.
• Be last to criticize a colleague who fails.
• Be sure where your next step will fall, so that you will not tumble.
• Be sure of your final destination, in case you are going the wrong way.
• Be loving to those who love you.
• Be loving to those who do not love you; they may change.
• Above all, be yourself.

Give each letter of the alphabet a number, a=1, b=2, etc. If you add up the letters of the alphabet in the word “Attitude,” this is the result:

Attitude is 100%.