Mindset story: What do you see through your window

There were two men, both seriously ill, who shared the same hospital room. One man named Mark got a seat next to the room’s only window. Mark was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help him drain fluids from his lungs.  The other man named Joe do to his condition had to spend all his time lying flat on his back.

The two roommates quickly bonded and started talking for hours on end. They talked about their lives, their job, children and wives. One day Joe expressed how he envied Mark because he got to sit next to the window. From that day on Mark started describing all the things he could see outside the window.

Mark told Joe that the window overlooked a lovely park with a lake. Ducks played on the lake while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. Joe began to live for those one-hour talks where he could hear and visualize the world outside the hospital room. 

One fine afternoon Mark described a parade passing by. Although Joe could not hear the band, he could visualize it as Mark vividly described everything. Days and weeks passed by.

One morning, a nurse arrived to examine the condition of the two patients. She found the lifeless body of Mark. The man had peacefully embraced his death in his sleep. The nurse sadly called the hospital attendants to take the body away.

Joe grieved the death of his roommate. But, as the day passed by he started missing the way his roommate described the view out of the window. In a hope to have a peek out of the window and the beautiful world outside Joe asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse happily made the switch. As soon as he was comfortable in his new bed, Joe slowly and painfully propped himself to take his first look at the world outside. The nurse delightfully watched as he attempted to sit on the bed after weeks. But as he strained to slowly turn to look out of the window beside him. He was stunned to see a blank wall outside the window. The agitated man asked the nurse what could have made his roommate lie about the view outside the window.

“There is nothing to see from here. Where are all the wonderful things he saw? He described everything so vividly. Is this a new and recent wall?  Why did he give me such vivid details that don’t exist?” He asked.

The nurse shook her head and answered his questions, “Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you and make you happy. You see, your roommate was totally blind”.