ESL Blogs

It will just take 2 minutes to read this and it will change your perspective….

Two men both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon. His bed was next the room’s only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, where they had been on vacation etc...

Every afternoon, when the man on the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the hospital window.

The man in the other bed began to live for that one hour each day where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all activity of the world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played in the water while children sailed their toy boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in detail; the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the scene.

One warm afternoon, the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man could not hear the band, he could see it in his mind’s eye.

Weeks and months passed. One morning the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths, only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendant to take the body. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself 

up on one elbow to take his look at the real world outside. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall. Later, the man asked the nurse how this could be…

The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, “Perhaps he just wanted you to make you feel better.”

There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own personal problems. Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled.

 (this is not my original story, I got this from one page under the name of "Bright side")

How do you feel today?