There were these two very ill men sharing a hospital room. They each had a bed. There were two closets and a door opening into the hallway. But only one window overlooking the world. Now one man had to sit up in bed a lot of the day because it helped with draining his lungs. The other man had to lie flat. Many hours were spent talking about their children, their families, their homes and their jobs. They had both served in the war so they talked about this as well. Every afternoon when it was time for the one man to sit up, he would describe what was going on outside his window in the park. The other man began to live for that hour, for he could not do anything but lie flat. The window overlooked a lake and there were ducks on the lake and many days there were children out feeding the ducks. There were young lovers walking the path, softball games being played, and people lounging in the grass with stretches of flowers all around. The man on his back would listen to the other man, enjoying every second of the description. How a child almost fell into the water, how beautiful the girls looked in their summer clothes, a little boy playing with a puppy. He could almost see what was happening. Then one afternoon as the man described a parade going by, this man thought, “Why I should be by the window, why can’t I be by the window?” So these thoughts began to fester inside him and eat at him. In a few days, he became sicker and sicker and the doctors could not understand what had happened. One night as he lay staring at the ceiling the other man began to cough and choke. The fluid was congesting in his lungs and he was grasping for the call button to call the nurse without success. But the other man watched without moving. The coughing went on and on and then finally stopped. In the morning the nurse came in and found the man dead. As soon as it seemed decent, the man asked if he could move to the bed by the window. So they moved him and made him comfortable. As soon as they left, he raised himself up on one elbow to look out the window, only to discover it faced a blank brick wall. The first man had chosen to introduce joy into bleak surroundings. The second man illustrated the desperate need for circumstances to produce happiness. He was so desperate, that he had allowed his desire to cost his friends life. Only to find, that the joy he had felt was independent of the circumstances.
Life is painful sometimes. This shouldn’t surprise us because God tells us that in this world we will have trouble. There are always going to be people, and circumstances that will cause us sadness. We cannot avoid pain. But we can avoid joy. We can wallow in our misery and be unhappy about our circumstances and jealous of what others have. We can sit and think about all the things we don’t like about a person or that we don’t like about our job. We can wish that our kids would do this or that. We can envy someone because they are married, or because they can sing or because they have a high paying job. We can create a world of unhappiness for ourselves by simply refusing to be grateful for and take joy in the things we do have; and the things around us.
The grass is always greener…on the other side of the fence the old saying says. We always think that someone else or something else is better than what we have. How many marriages have fallen prey to that mind set. Sure something new is always going to be exciting…But even the new becomes old eventually and then you are right back where you started..Wishing for something different. Why is it that we look at other’s circumstances and think they have it better? What is it about us that makes us want what we don’t have instead of being content with what we do. Single people want to be in a relationship, some married people wish they had the freedom of their single days. I was always envious of my sister Connie who had beautiful red, naturally curly hair. But if you ask her she will tell you she was jealous of my straight, brownish blonde hair. But if we get too caught up in wishing that we had someone else’s circumstances, we forget to find joy in our own circumstances.
Whenever I am feeling really down or discouraged I play this game with myself where I put myself in someone else’s shoes. What I always come back to is there is no one I’d rather trade with. When I start to count the blessings I have, I always end up encouraged and glad to be me. That friend that has a beautiful home also has spouse who is never there for her, that friend that just went on a dream vacation lost a child a few years ago…That friend who got the great promotion at work, works round the clock and never has time to enjoy the great salary she makes…that friend that just got a brand new car has a child who is a drug addict. Always, always, I find a reason to be thankful for my life and my circumstances.
Joy is not dependent on what’s happening around us. It is possible to feel joy in the midst of a storm. There is always something good in every bad situation. Sometimes you have to really look hard to find it, but its there. It’s a choice we make every day. We may not be able to control what happens to us; but we can control our reaction.
Its up to you. My choice is to choose joy.
No comments:
Post a Comment