Positive Initiative: What Do You See?

I love the story of the two guys who were both seriously ill and shared the same room at a hospital. One of the guys had his bed next to the window while the other guy was on the opposite end of that window.

They quickly bonded and started talking a lot. They talked about their lives, their careers, and their families. The highlight of the conversation was when the guy next to the window describes everything he could see outside.

The guy would describe a parade passing by, birds perched on a tree, a beautiful lady who regularly reads a book at the bench by the fountain, the wind blowing the dry leaves all over.

While the other guy could not hear the parade or the birds, he could visualize it vividly as described and he would feel envious of the guy who had his bed next to the window.

One morning, the nurse making rounds found the lifeless body of the guy by the window. The man had died in his sleep. The nurse sadly called the hospital attendants to take the body away.

The other man felt so sad for the death of his friend. But, one day he had an idea, he would request to be transferred to the bed of the friend who passed away so he could see the view out of the window.  The nurse happily made the switch. As soon as he was comfortable in his new bed, the man slowly and painfully propped himself to take his first look at the world outside. But as he strained to slowly turn to look out of the window beside him. He was stunned to see a blank wall outside. The guy was agitated. He said, "There is nothing to see from here. Where are all the wonderful things he saw? Is this a new and recent wall? Why did he give me such vivid details that don’t exist?”

The nurse shook her head and answered his questions, “Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you and make you happy. You see, your roommate was totally blind”.

There are people who sees the troubles around them and is paralyzed by this sight, unable to move because of fear. There are also people who sees the very same thing but also sees opportunity and hope.

The latter not only finds peace and the ability to move forward, he is also able to encourage others along the way. You decide which one are you.

#hope #perspective #vision #inspiration #positivethinking