Resumo de Positive Attitude

POSITIVE ATTITUDE

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital
room. Ben was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour a day to drain the
fluids from his lungs. His bed was next to the room''s only window while Ken 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 Ben could sit up,
he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could
see outside the window.

Ken would live for those one-hour periods where his world
would be enlightened by all the activity and color of the outside world.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake, Ben had
said. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model
boats. Lovers walked arm in arm amid 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 Ben described all this in exquisite detail, Ken
would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.

Unexpectedly, an alien thought entered Ken''s head: Why
should Ben has all the pleasure of seeing everything while I never get to see
anything? It didn''t seem fair. As the thought fermented, Ken felt ashamed at
first. 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 found himself
unable to sleep. He should be by that window - and that thought now controlled
his life.

Late one night, Ben began to cough. He was choking on the
fluid in his lungs. Ken watched in the dimly lit room as Ben groped for the
button to call for help. Listening from across the room, Ken never moved, never
pushed his own button which would have brought the nurse running. In less than
five minutes, the coughing and choking stopped, along with 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 Ben, she was saddened and
called the hospital attendant to take it away--no words, no fuss. As soon as it
seemed appropriate, Ken 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, Ken propped himself up on one elbow to
take his first look. 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.

Moral of the story:

The pursuit of happiness is a matter of choice...it is a
positive attitude we consciously choose to express. It is not a gift that gets
delivered to our doorstep each morning, nor does it come through the window.
And I am certain that our circumstances are just a small part of what makes us
joyful. If we wait for them to get just right, we will never find lasting joy.

The pursuit of happiness is an inward journey. Our minds are
like programs, awaiting the code that will determine behaviors; like bank
vaults awaiting our deposits. If we regularly deposit positive, encouraging,
and uplifting thoughts, if we continue to bite our lips just before we begin to
grumble and complain, if we shoot down that seemingly harmless negative thought
as it germinates, we will find that there is much to rejoice about.

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