getaran jiwa melanda hatiku

Abu is of the guys you'd 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 someone was having a bad day, Abu was there telling him or her how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Abu and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person of all the time. How do you do it? Don’t you have any feeling to be angry on bad saying about you?"

He replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself, 'Abu, 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, but it isn't that easy”, I protested.

“Yes, it is.” Abu 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 is: ‘It is your choice how you live life.’”

I reflected on what Abu said. Soon thereafter, I left Malaysia to further my study in overseas. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Six months later, I heard that Abu was involved in a serious accident, falling from his apartment of 4 storeys. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Abu was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.

I called Abu about a month after the accident, after got his phone number from a friend. When I asked him how he was, he replied, “If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars? I can send you the photo of my back.”

I declined, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place. “The first thing that went through my mind was my soon-to-be wife.” Abu 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 for the sake of God.”

“Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?” I asked.

Abu 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 is 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 Abu. “She asked if I was allergic to anything. ‘Yes,’ I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my answer. 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’.”

Abu lived, thanks to God for giving the skill to his doctors, and 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.

*p/s: this story does not relate to anyone, neither dead nor still alive.

aku pilih untuk menang, sebab tu aku buat 'batu'. hehehehe