I used to love those multiple-choice tests in school. Who doesn’t? It meant that I had at least a 25% chance of getting it right. A 75% chance of getting it wrong, but it sure as shit beats having to write a random answer, right?
And if you didn’t know (or didn’t want to take the test) we all know if you fill out ABACADBA you’re pretty much guaranteed to get something right, right?
Anyway…
Here’s an email from Jesse Itzler, from his free swim newsletter.
“…
The other day, I got off a plane, walked up the jet bridge, and a man ran up to me in the terminal.
“You’re Jesse, right?”
“Yeah, that’s me.”
“You’re the guy who runs all the time, right?”
I nodded, saying, “Yes, I run a lot.”
“Yeah—yeah, I was just telling my wife, I never understood how a guy that runs so much can look that unathletic.”
Pop Quiz! I had a choice of how to react.
A) Look him up and down and walk away without saying a word.
B) Explain to him that perception and reality don’t always align.
C) Ask him why he’s so rude.
D) Laugh and say thank you.
I chose D.
You see, in a world where so much is out of our control, we should hold onto one of the few things we can control—our reactions.
My guess is that the guy wasn’t trying to be mean. He just blurted it out. Whatever, right?
In life, we’re presented with a lot of multiple choice scenarios and it’s our responses that determine whether we get it right or not.”
We can CHOOSE which answer fits best. We can CHOOSE how to respond to any situation.
Is our response that we want, the one we would choose given another chance?
Cause most likely, another chance is going to come around…
Joe DiAndrea 