This past week, everybody in America was playing the lottery. The Powerball jackpot was at a record breaking amount of over 1 Billion dollars, and we were all dreaming of the wonderful things we would do if we won.
But there are numerous stories of people who have won the lottery, and didn't live happily ever after. Some have even said that it was the worst thing that ever happened to them. The money disappeared after being spent on mostly useless things, or people were taken advantage of, and relationships dissolved.
Of course we need enough money to live and be comfortable, but having lots of money does not lead automatically to happiness. So much of what happens to us is based more on our perceptions of things than on external circumstances. Some people move through what seem to be difficult circumstances with grace, and remain grateful for what they have. Other people seem to have everything on the surface, but are only able to see what they don't have, and don't enjoy their lives or use their talents.
One sure way to ruin potential happiness is to worry incessantly, and it's difficult not to do that. It's easy to become isolated and overcome by our fears. So when a friend comes along to help, and offers us a fresh perspective, we have the choice to open ourselves to the light, and to new possibilities, or we can stay stuck in the darkness of self-defeating thoughts and behaviors.
The following is a slightly modernized adaptation of a story called "The Windows", which is from a book called The Golden Windows: A Book of Fables for Young and Old, by Laura E. Richards, first published in 1903.
The Dirty Windows
A man who lived alone was sitting in his room one day,
thinking gloomy thoughts.
“I cannot see as
well as I used to,” he said to himself. “I can hardly see to do my work
anymore. It’s evident that my sight is
failing. I will probably be blind before long, and unable to do any work! And then I will have to starve
to death, or go live in a shelter to survive. Perhaps it would be better for me to go
there now, while I can still see a little.”
Just then his
neighbor, who was an emotional, energetic woman, came over to visit.
“Why do you just
sit here, withering away?” she asked, with concern.
So the man told
her his thoughts: how his vision was failing and he how he would soon have to
starve to death or go to live in a shelter. And while he was talking, she
bustled about the room, filling a bucket of water, and rummaging through the
drawers of his dresser to find a clean cloth.
When he had
finished talking, she said; “Look! Your windows are dirty; that’s all that’s
wrong.” And she cheerfully washed the windows. “There!” she said, and went
about her business, hoping that she was leaving him in a better state than she
had found him.
But with the
windows clean, the man was even more upset than before. “Oh no,” he thought to
himself, “how this glare hurts my eyes! My eyes must be weaker than I thought!”
And he shut the curtains in despair.
--By Susan Sherwood, (Adapted from The Golden
Windows by Laura E. Richards, 1903)
