Hasan A. Yahya, Ph.D
I received recently a message through my email. It was a message about optimism, about a person who is the kind of guy you love to hate. The message was not organized and full of editing and grammatical mistakes, So I decided to refresh the message and rewrite it and add some of my poetry related to the subject. You may see also, my style of writing my own books and articles. The subject itself has certain value in my life in theory and practice. It might be beneficial for all to have the spirit of optimism. The rebuilt message with additions and reformation reads:
The person (lets say john was his name) 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!' Two persons in one. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Optimistic John 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 and asked him,
'I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you make it?' He replied,
'Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or in a bad mood, and quickly I choose to be in the first choice.'
Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or choose to learn from it. I choose the second. 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 second choice.
'Yeah, right, it's not that easy,' I protested.
'Yes, it is,' he 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 affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line is: It's your choice how you want to live your life.'
I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, 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 he was involved in a serious accident, falling some
60 feet from a communications tower. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back. I saw him about six months after the accident.
When I asked him how he was, he replied, 'If I were any better, I'd be twins, you want to see my
scars?'
I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place. 'The first thing that went through my mind He replied: was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter.'
'Then, as I lay on the ground, 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. He continued, saying:
'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 John. '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.'
He 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.'
After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. Live as happy as you can. Tomorrow is coming with or without invitation. All people are going to one place sooner or later where:
No food to digest
No partner to have
Sex with, no crime
Committed for envy
No theft, no burglary
No stealing, no killing,
No work, no stress, no illness
No life, no lies
The only job all people
Share is: Eternity of silence
Called Death
**********
Live your day
And dont worry
About tomorrow
Its coming, no doubt,
Be sure, that pushing hard
Or worrying more,
Tomorrow is always
Never late
So live your day.
***
Dont worry and live your day
Tomorrow is certainly
Coming in its way
It is relaxing today
It is like today
Enjoy your day
Before it becomes yesterday.
***
Happiness from far away and die
When injustice occurs
But when it sustained hope returns alive
When justice occurs
Hope will return well and alive
***
(930 words) www.hasanyahya.com
About the Author:
Hasan Yahya is an Arab American scholar, and a professor of sociology. He published 20 plus books and 180 plus articles on sociology, psychology, politics, poetry, IQ Test Measurement and short stories in both Arabic and English. His articles may be found on articlesbase.com, Face book and other internet sites. His recent books published on Amazon titled: Diwan Lawlaki-Poetry, and Zawjatu al-Sultan, and other short stories, both in Arabic.(2009)
