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.

note
motivator n. 激起行为（或行动）的人（或事物），促进因素，激发因素

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."

note
victim n. 受害人 protest v. 断言抗议 junk n. 垃圾

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.