A Vision for America

It’s all about perspective.  

Two men were confined to a hospital room due to their illnesses. One man had to lay mostly on his back, while the man by the window had to mostly sit up.   

The bed of the man sitting up was next to the only window in the room. Each day, he would describe what he saw out the window.  

The other man began to live for that description each day. His roommate spoke of the beautiful lake below, describing the fishermen and their efforts. Another day he described the skyline of the city on the horizon. Mountains in the distance, capped with snow were reported on other days.   

The man confined to his back began to resent the reports for the window. It didn’t seem fair that his roommate had a window and he didn’t. In time, his resentment turned to anger, and then bitterness.   

One night, the man by the window passed away. After his body was removed from the room, the other man asked, “Since I am alone in this room, may I have my bed moved where I can look out the window?” The nurse agreed and moved his bed to the window.   

When he was alone in the room, he pulled himself up to look out the window. At last he would see all that was out there to see. It was then that he made the discovery.  

Outside the window there was nothing but a brick wall!  

This story by G. W. Target highlights the importance of perspective, the mental framework through which we interpret our experiences and our world. Perspective shapes our attitude, which then dictates our behavior, or as someone once said,  

“Attitude determines altitude!”

Even with all the challenges we seem to be facing at this point in time, let us not lose sight of this fact: We are living in the land of the free because of the brave.