英语美文：选择快乐所以快乐

 　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!"

　　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.

　　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?"

　　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."

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

　　"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."

　　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.

　　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(保险柜), his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off (忘记，遗漏)the combination (开启号码锁的号码组合)。 The robbers panicked and shot him.

　　Luckily, Jerry was found relatively¹ quickly and rushed to the local trauma² (创伤，外伤)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.

　　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(伤疤)?" I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place.

　　"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."

　　"Weren"t you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.

　　Jerry continued, "The paramedics (护理人员)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 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 (魁梧的，结实的)nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry.

　　"She asked if I was allergic³ (过敏的)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."

　　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 fully⁴.

　　Attitude, after all, is everything.

1 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

2 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

3 allergic   

adj.过敏的，变态的

参考例句：

• Alice is allergic to the fur of cats.艾丽斯对猫的皮毛过敏。
• Many people are allergic to airborne pollutants such as pollen.许多人对空气传播的污染物过敏，比如花粉。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。