"THE WINDOW"

"THE WINDOW" Ali Chamaoun Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour a day to drain the fluids from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time on his back. The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their lives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the man in the bed next to the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed would live for those one-hour periods where his world be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the outside world. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake, the man had said, "Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model beats. Lovers walked arm in arm amid flowers of every color of the rainbow. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the other man closes his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene. One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by although the other man could not hear the band. Because an alien thought entered his head: Why should he have all the pleasure of seeing everything while I never get to see anything ?it didn't seem fair .so his envy eroded into resentment and soon turned him sour. Late one night, as he lay staring at the ceiling, the man by the window began to cough. He was choking on the fluid in his lungs. The other man watched in the dimly lit room as the struggling man by the window groped for the button to call for help, but his friend never moved, and pushed his own button.Now,there was only silence...deathly silence. After the nurse take the dead body away, he asked her if he could be moved next to the window. So, she switched.Slowly,painfully,he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look. It was a blank wall!!! The pursuit of happiness is a matter of choice. It is a positive attitude we consciously choose to express. It is not a girl that gets delivered to our doorstep each morning, nor does it come through the window. Our minds are like programs, awaiting the codes that will determine behaviors. Let's handle encouraging and uplifting thoughts to find happiness.