Encouragement and Its Wonders

This is a story from the times of World War II.

Two men, both seriously wounded in the battle fields of Normandy, occupied the same hospital room. The first man had broken his spine while Para-dropping from a plane over the battle field that would paralyze him for the rest of his life, while the second man had many grievous wounds caused by shrapnel’s. The second man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the rooms only window claimed the man to his new room partner, the first man. The first man had to spend all his time flat on his back due to his spinal injury. The men struck a friendship and 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.

Every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water 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. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene. This motivated him to concentrate on recovering and gaining control of his paralyzed body.

One warm afternoon the man by the window described a military band parade passing by. Although the other man couldn’t hear the band – he could see it in his mind’s eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.

Days and weeks passed.

One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.

As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved to the bed where his erstwhile friend slept. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Summoning all his willpower and strength he slowly, painfully, propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real beautiful world outside that his friend used to describe. To his utter amazement, he found that he faced a blank wall. When the doctors and the nurses saw him moving, they declared it a miracle of sorts. But the man appeared distraught and sad. The man finally asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate to lie and described such wonderful things outside this window

The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall.

She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you."

Moral: A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success