The window

Two men were critically ill and they shared a hospital room. Stories always sound better with names so let’s call the first man Chris and the other man Joe. Chris just had a major eye surgery and his eyes were wrapped in bandages. Also, he was temporarily unable to sit up. Joe had fluid in his lungs and he was made to sit up for an hour every day to drain the fluids from his lungs.

Soon, Chris and Joe became cordial and they discussed several aspects of their lives. Nevertheless, Joe couldn’t help but notice that Chris was mostly sad. Out of concern, he asked his friend why, to which Chris replied, “Do you know what it is like not to be able to see a thing? I feel like the whole world is passing me by. You are fortunate to have your bed next to the window”.  Indeed, Joe had his bed next to the only window in the room; so, he decided to start to describe the ‘outside world’ to Chris during his daily one-hour sit-ups.

Joe would describe the busy streets outside the hospital, the pedestrians going about their daily businesses, the theme park across the road, children giggling and lovers strolling arm-in-arm, birds chipping, etc. With time, the one hour became the highlight of Chris’ day. He would awake in the morning with great anticipation of the day’s narratives. After the precious one hour, he would spend the rest of the day reviewing the story and painting the mental pictures.

Gradually, days became weeks and weeks became months. Until one day, Chris awoke in the morning with the usual anticipation, but he did not hear the voice of his favourite storyteller. His several calls were met with silence so he raised an alarm. To his greatest dismay, Joe had died peacefully in his sleep. Chris grieved the death of his friend. By that time, his bandages had been removed. When he considered it appropriate enough, he requested the nurse to move his bed next to the window and the nurse happy obliged. As soon as he was settled in bed, Chris propped himself up to take his first glimpse of the world he had only imaged. To his greatest shock, the only window in the room faced a blank brick wall! He was so bothered that he inquired from the nurse where Joe got all his stories from. She responded, “Perhaps he wanted to encourage you and cheer you up. You see, Joe was totally blind and he couldn’t see anyway”.

This story has been told in different variations but the theme has always been the same- the selflessness of the blind man. This time, I would like to take a different angle to the story by focusing on the window instead. From the story, it is clear that the window does not necessarily refer to an opening in the wall of the building but the outlook of the mind.  Joe, whose sightlessness was compounded by sitting next to a “walled window”, saw more than Chris did with his two eyes. The window represents our attitude towards life and the power of our inner eyes. Let’s consider the following kinds of windows:

• Small vs Big Window: Some people possess a very limited outlook to life which makes them close up. Unfortunately, as they hoard all the good things in their lives from flowing out to others, they also keep good things from flowing in. Joe expanded his view of the world and shared his inner vision with his friend. Open your window and let light in.
• Dirty vs Clean Window: when your window is dirty, all you see through it will be tainted. A negative attitude will always affect your disposition towards life. We may all be looking at the same thing but our interpretation of it depends on our positive or negative disposition.
• Barred vs Free Window: some people are trapped in their own lives because of fear. They are suspicious of everything and everyone. While it is necessary to be cautious, fear can keep us from living totally. Les Brown says, “There is no safe position in life; you can’t get out of life alive”. We might as well make the best of our lives.

You may be face by a blank window, but what you choose to see it what matters. As you decide to love and not hate, give and not hoard in this special season, I wish you a Merry Christmas in arrears and a most Blessed New Year in advance.