"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.