There may be days when you get up in the morning and things aren't the way you had hoped they would be. That's when you have to tell yourself that things will get better. There are times when people disappoint you and let you down. But those are the times when you must remind yourself to trust your own judgments and opinions, to keep your life focused on believing in yourself. There will be challenges to face and changes to make in your life, and it is up to you to accept them. Rohan was tired of facing failures, from within he was broken. Eight months, since he graduated, yet to find a job. “Only if I had a better luck.” He said to himself.
Every day he would wake up and have the same schedule. Check e-mails, hoping for a positive reply, then checking mailbox outside his apartment. Getting fresh, eating cereals, looking for new job opportunities in classified section of four different newspapers. Going for lunch, in the nearby restaurant, ‘9-7-5’. Coming back, checking e-mails, then mails again. Posting new job applications, listen to songs, mostly by Nirvana or Evanescence, then wait for dinner, go to 9-7-5 again, coming back to home, lying in bed, watch television for some time, hoping for a better tomorrow.
He used to be very social, had lots of friends when he was in school. Literally everyone in college knew him. No one had ever thought he would be so isolated after passing out from the college. But things changed, he loathed it now when someone he knew would call him and show his/her concerns. The only people he talked to now were his mother who knew that the best way to tackle this situation would be to let him do whatever he wishes to do, his cousin Neha, who would regularly call him to talk about herself and Ishan, manager of 9-7-5 who was about the same age. Initially Rohan hated him, for he was always way too friendly than what a restaurant manager should be. But now he was one of his best friends. He still hates him though.
Ishan was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood, wearing a smile and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, well that would be a new species!" He was a unique manager because every employee he had was happy working under him, unlike what you usually have. The reason was his attitude. He was a natural motivator. Worried about anything? meet Ishan. Confused what to do? Meet Ishan. He always looked for positives no matter what the situation was. If an employee was having a bad day, Ishan was there telling him how to look on the positive side of the situation. He was the kind of person you could never imagine being worried about anything.
Well, Rohan could see that Ishan was completely opposite of what he was. Seeing this style really made Rohan curious, so one day he went up to Ishan and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"
Ishan replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Ishan, 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," Rohan protested.
"Yes it is," Ishan 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."
Rohan reflected on what Ishan said. Often after dinner, he would have a small chat with his new friend. He became more positive in his approach, performed better in job interviews and soon thereafter, he got a job offer from a multinational company in Bangalore. Obviously Ishan was the first to know. Rohan moved to Bangalore and soon lost touch with Ishan, but often thought about him when he made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.
Several years later, he heard that Ishan 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, Ishan was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Ishan was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.
Rohan saw Ishan about six months after the accident. When he asked him how he was, he replied, " If I were any better, well that would be a new species! Wanna see my scars?" Rohan 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," Ishan 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?" Rohan asked.
Ishan 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. The Nurse 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."
Ishan lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. Rohan learned from him that every day one has the choice to live fully. So when the days come that are filled with frustration and unexpected responsibilities, one should remember to believe in himself and all one wants his life to be. Because the challenges and changes will only help one to find the goals that are meant to come true. Afterall, it’s your attitude that matters. As you know, you are the one to choose.
