BE ENCOURAGED

BE ENCOURAGED
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 to
help drain the fluid from his lungs.
His bed was next to the room's
only window.
The other man had to spend all
his time flat on his back. The men
talked for hours on end. They
spoke of their wives 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 by the window could sit
up, he would pass the time by
describing to his room-mate all
the things he could see outside
the
window.
The man in the other bed began
to live for those one-hour periods
where his world would be
broadened and enlivened by all
the
activity and color of the world
outside. The window overlooked
a
park with a lovely lake. Ducks and
swans played on the water while
children sailed their model boats.
Young lovers walked arm in arm
amidst flowers of every color of
the rainbow. Grand old trees
graced the landscape, and a fine
view of the city skyline could be
seen in the distance.
As the man by the window
described all this in exquisite
detail, the
man on the other side of the
room would close his eyes and
imagine the picturesque scene.
One warm afternoon the man by
the
window described a parade
passing by. Although the other
man
couldn't hear the band - he could
see it in his mind's eye as the
gentleman by the window
portrayed it with descriptive
words.
Then unexpectedly, a sinister
thought entered his mind. Why
should
the other man alone experience
all the pleasures of seeing
everything
while he himself never got to see
anything? It didn't seem fair. At
first thought the man felt
ashamed. But as the days passed
and he
missed seeing more sights, his
envy eroded into resentment and
soon turned him sour. He began
to brood and he found himself
unable to sleep. He should be by
that window - that thought, and
only that thought now controlled
his life.
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. Listening
from
across the room he never moved,
never pushed his own button
which would have brought the
nurse running in. In less than five
minutes the coughing and
choking stopped, along with that
the
sound of breathing. Now there
was only silence-deathly silence.
The following morning the day
nurse arrived to bring water for
their
baths. When she found the lifeless
body of the man by the window,
she was saddened and called the
hospital attendants to take it
away.
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 first look at the world outside.
Finally, he would have the joy of
seeing it all himself. He strained to
slowly turn to look out the
window beside the bed. It faced a
blank
wall.
The man asked the nurse what
could have compelled his
deceased
roommate who had described
such wonderful things outside
this
window. The nurse responded
that the man was blind and could
not even see the wall. She said,
"Perhaps he just wanted to
encourage you."
Epilogue. . . . You can interpret the
story in any way you like. But
one moral stands out:
There is tremendous happiness in
making others happy, despite our
own situations. Shared grief is
half the sorrow, but happiness
when
shared, is doubled. If you want to
feel rich, just count all of the
things you have that money can't
buy.
DONT FORGET TO ENCOURAGE AT
LEAST ONE PERSON TODAY.
CHEERS!