两个旅途中的天使停下脚步，在一富人家过夜。这一家人很无礼，不让天使们住在公寓的客房中，而是让他们住在寒冷的地下室。
整理床铺的时候，年长的天使看见墙上有个洞就把它补好了。年轻的天使问为什么，年长的天使回答：“事情并不总是像看上去的那样。”
第二天晚上，两位天使来到一户穷农夫家，但夫妇二人非常热情好客，吃了一点东西后，他们让天使睡在他们的床上，本来他们自己可以在上面睡一宿好觉的。第二天，天使们发现农夫和他的妻子在哭泣，他们唯一的奶牛倒在地上，死了，这奶牛的奶是她们惟一的收入。
年轻的天使很气愤，便问年长的天使“你怎么能让这样的事情发生？第一个人很富有，你还帮他，”她指责道“第二家人很穷，还愿意与我们共同分享他们的一切。你却让他们的牛死掉了。”
“事情并不总是像看上去的那样。”年长的天使回答说“我们住在公寓的地下室的时候，我看到墙洞里藏有金子，既然主人那么贪婪又不愿与我们共同分享他的财富，我就封了墙上的洞，让他找不到金子。昨晚，我们在农夫的床上睡觉的时候，死亡天使来找他的妻子，我把牛给了他。事情并不总是像看上去的那样。”
有时，事情的确不是该怎么发生就怎么发生的。如果你有信心，你就需要相信，每一个结果总是对你有利的，你只是到后来才会知道。
Attitude Is Everything
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 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， his hand， shaking from nervousness， slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily， Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma 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？”
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 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 nurse shouting questions at me，” said Jerry. “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， ’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 fully.
Attitude， after all， is everything.