Story Time: The Golden Windows

There is a story called “The Golden Windows” by Laura E. Richards.  I read it as a child, and it made an impression.  Every day, a boy sees a house in the distance with shining windows made of gold and diamonds.  One day, he decides to find the house, and wanders until he does.  When he gets there, the house only has normal windows, but the girl who lives there says that there is another house with golden windows.  She points it out, and he discovers that, from this perspective, his house has windows that are made of gold and diamonds.  He is filled with happiness, and runs back home.

 It is often easier to see others’ golden windows, and then assume that we have none of our own.  We may feel jealous of people who have some characteristic that we find appealing, and we can focus on how much better than us that person seems.  It is sometimes difficult to imagine that we also have admirable, enviable traits, but of course, we do.  If we find ourselves sinking into feelings of inferiority when we see another person shine, we can try something different.  This person isn’t shining instead of us, but is shining as well as us, only from a different vantage point.