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Please forward this ezine to anyone you know who is interested in examining the relationship they have with themselves and the ones they have with everyone else.

You Get a Better Life When You Get 'Better At Living' Life

I am now a Charter member of the Canadian Association of Public Speakers (CAPS). I am very excited about all of the new learning that is heading my way from fellow speakers and presenters.

I often speak about my family and today I have a great story about my eldest son, the actor. He applied to audition for a play and was not invited to do so. He was crushed but decided to crash the audition, after all, what did he have to lose? As he was leaving, they thanked him for crashing and the next day called and offered him the role.

I cannot take credit for writing today's article. . I came across it and it was too good not to share with you. It's about choices, something near and dear to my heart and obviously my son's!

Please remember that I love hearing from you. Email me and tell me what you're particular area of growth this year will be!

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John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He 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!" He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, 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 at work, 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 do 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 ... 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."

"Yes, it is," he said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all of 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: It's you choice how you live your life."

I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the company 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 ... Wanna 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 was the well-being of my soon-to-be-born daughter," he replied. "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, "...the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me in to 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,

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." Matthew 6:34. After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

One more way that you can get a better life by getting 'Better At Living' the one that you've got!

You can change your life
You can make it better
You just have to get 'Better At Living' it!

Lesley Cordero is founder and President of Cordero Consulting, a company offering personal growth solutions in the form of workshops, keynote presentations, and Internet information resources. Let's Get Better At Living!

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Lesley Cordero
186 Fairleigh Ave. S., Suite 1
Hamilton, ON L8M 2K5
Canada
Phone: 289.439.2691
e-mail: info@LesleyCordero.com
http://www.LesleyCordero.com