Choices
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Choices.
It’s a beautiful spring day in Beverly Hills, California. I’m
looking out my window at elm trees in full leaf and roses in
full bloom, and thinking about the people who helped me get
where I am today.
Mark Johnson was the kind of guy some people love to hate. He
was always in a great mood and always had something positive to
say. When he saw you, he enthusiastically boomed, “Hello, my
friend!” When you asked him how he was, he nearly shouted, “I’m
on top of the world!” I was sometimes a little embarrassed by
his noisy exuberance, but I was glad he was my friend.
Mark was a unique worker at the Phelps Dodge Copper Mine in my
home town of Ajo, Arizona. The miners followed him around.
Because of his attitude, he was a natural motivator. If one of
the guys was having a bad day, Mark was there to help him see
the bright side of any situation. Once I remember him taking one
of the men to the bank with him after work. I later learned that
Mark had personally given over half his check to help that man
cover his family’s medical bills. It wasn’t the first time Mark
had done this. Many could testify to his generosity.
And those were tough times for copper miners in the 1970’s-with
only a decade left before the mine would close, and Ajo would
turn into a ghost town
Mark Johnson and I worked in the Smelter-the OVEN. Hot enough to
melt gold. Hot enough to melt your shoes…it was Hell.
Mark’s positive approach to life made me curious, so one day I
asked him, “I don’t get it! Everyone grumbles and complains
about the hard work, the heat, and the low wages. Everyone but
you. No one can be a positive person all the time. How do you do
it?”
Mark had a quick answer, and a quicker smile, “Each morning I
wake up and say to myself, ‘Mark, you have two choices today.
You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a
bad mood.’ Don, 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. Don, 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.
Don, I choose the positive side of life.”
“Yeah, right, it’s not that easy,” I protested.
“Yes, it is,” Mark said. “Life is all about choices. Every
situation is a choice. You choose how you react to each
situation. 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.”
My job in the mines that summer was challenging. I was only 19
years old after all. I was home for the summer to try to make
enough money for my sophomore year at Arizona State.
Challenging? That is a major understatement. My assignment: to
shovel from the top of the OVEN the metallic soot that would
build up on the roof. It took a shovel and an industrial
strength vacuum cleaner to do the job. Life threatening? Yep!
That OVEN had to be clean or it might collapse. We worked in
crews of two-man teams. For safety, we strapped wooden platforms
beneath our shoes. As we worked we kept an eye on our platforms,
and if they started to smoke, we jumped off the OVEN before our
shoes caught fire. The top of the OVEN was the hottest, because
heat rises. I resented when Mark was transferred to the ICE
HOUSE. He was going to work in the coolest place in Arizona
during that infernal summer. Why not me? He now had one of the
nicest jobs you could get in that fiery Hell called a copper
mine. Why not me?
Things change. The miners went on strike. Mark came to me in
great distress. It was the first time I’d ever seen him upset.
“Don,” he said, “I’ve got to work. I’m going to have to be a
scab. I have a family to feed. My wife Becky is 8 months
pregnant.” Tough decision. The toughest.
In Ajo, an innocent child of a scab was once shot to death.
Countless are the brutal stories I can recall of how scabs were
severely beaten, crippled or killed for their decision to cross
the picket line. Mark had nowhere to turn. Copper mining was the
only industry in that town 100 miles from civilization. He had
no money to move, no money to travel. Sadly, I supported him in
his decision. What else could I do?
The next day was ugly. Hundreds of angry miners lined up to
taunt, jeer and protest the few scabs who showed up to work.
Mark hung his head in shame as he drove through the picket line
in a company truck with armed escorts. The decision to work was
fatal. But not because of the miners’ hatred of scabs. Mark was
assigned my job to clean the top of the OVEN. The same I’d
worked on only days before. That day, witnesses saw the OVEN
collapse, and my friend Mark was instantly incinerated.
Mark’s death had a major impact on me. It could have been my
life that was taken by that OVEN. I was a kid, and I hurt. Worst
of all, I felt guilty for resenting his time in the Ice House. I
felt guilty for not always welcoming his positive outlook. But,
now he was gone. His family was fatherless. Because his last
work was that of a scab, he was counted as a temporary worker,
and the family lost all his benefits. It was a tragedy I
couldn’t handle. The fire of that oven burned inside my gut. I
had to turn my anger, my guilt, and my sadness and pain into
something positive. I reflected on Mark’s upbeat philosophy and
decided that I could best honor him by being like him, and
focusing on the good in my life.
Mark’s untimely death taught me a valuable lesson. Life is
short. There is no telling when we will be called to take the
Great Adventure. Each day of our lives is precious. Mark was
100% right. Each day is a choice. You and you alone decide what
kind of day you will have. You can choose to be happy or sad,
loving or hateful. Enlightenment is all about choice. What
choice are you going to make today? Remember my friend Mark this
week and make the choice to be happy.
Donald Schnell is the author of The Initiation. He has assisted
thousands of individuals to awaken to their inner power. Free:
Enlightenment 101 newsletter http://www.enlightenment101.com
Donald@enlightenment101.com
