Tuesday, October 03, 2006

I Wish...


If you had one wish, one wish guaranteed to come true, what would it be?

I'm sure many people would wish for vast sums of money. Does money buy happiness, though? Of course not. Alas, there's no convincing a lot of people of that. Some people will do almost anything in the pursuit of money. Money can sometimes buy the means to happiness. It can buy the things that you think will make you happy. The money itself is no panacea, and the things can't make you happy. Using those things to help make the people you love happy could be happy-making. To a degree. The things in and of themselves are just ... things. One has to be careful to avoid winding up with a house full of things but empty of love and laughter and happiness.

I'm not sure what my wish would be. Certainly, it would require more than a few minutes' thought. I wouldn't waste my wish on money. I might wish for just enough to always be in my checking account to cover my needs, perhaps a few of my wants. That might be a pretty good thing.

Nor would I make the ubiquitous "beauty pageant" wish for world peace. It's a wonderful thought, but you and I know both know what the odds are. I'd never wish to be 25 again (too inexperienced), or president, queen, or prime minister of anything (too exhausting, too risky). I wouldn't squander my wish on longing to be married to a prince. Princes too often turn out to be toads, and who needs warts?

I might wish for good health for the rest of my life, be it a week, a month, or fifty years. As long as I had my health, I could continue to do the simple things that make me happy and the things I do for other people that make them happy. Yeah, that might be a pretty decent wish.

I'd need to give the final decision a lot of careful consideration, perform a really thorough due diligence on it. I learned a long time ago to be very, very careful what you wish for because you will always get it sooner or later, one way or another. It's the another I'm scared of.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope all your wishes come true.

Serena said...

I hope yours do, too, dahling.:)

Scott said...

Easy one for me--I'd wish perpetual health for me and my family, including the curing of any diseases already suffered. Thus I'd get rid of my type-1 diabetes, wouldn't have to worry about my kids getting leukemia or my wife getting breast cancer or me getting Alzheimers, or anything that might hamper the enjoyment of life later on. Hell, I could smoke, drink, even forget to brush my teeth--no tooth decay, alcoholism, or lung cancer. I could take a high-deductible health insurance plan just for broken bones and whatnot, and take a job where I could earn less and not have to worry about a bout with the flu financially ruining me.

You can tell I've given this some thought. :)

Serena said...

That strikes me as a very well reasoned (and reasonable) wish, Scott. I hope yours comes true, too.:)

Anonymous said...

I suppose wishing for more wishes would be out, huh?

If money can't buy happiness then I guess I'll have to rent it- Weird Al

Seriously, I would a selfish wish since I only have one. I admit that. I would wish for me to realize the best me I could be and achieve it. If it means I am an asshole so be it. I would wish for the uncertainty of our choices to be gone in essance.

Serena said...

It's your wish, Kan. You can wish for more wishes if you wish to. Wishing to be the best you can be isn't selfish, IMO. And I seriously doubt that the best you would be an asshole. I don't see that in you at all.

thewriterslife said...

Easy. It would be $500,000 to pay for that cabin the kids and I stayed in at the Smokies last month. I wouldn't have to worry about my health then because happiness would bring good health! Ah...to dream...

Anonymous said...

You have to admit that World Peace would be nice, though. Imagine where mankind would be today if we didn't have to worry about who got the credit. .... we could reword "World Peace" to "constant global conflict resolution".

Serena said...

Wish hard for that cabin, Dorothy. You never know.

It would be nice, indeed, Mike. Maybe if we all wish really, really hard...

Scott said...

Mike--It just so happens I wrote a sonnet about the problems of peacefulness: #159: When Everything is Better." Enjoy.

Liz Hinds said...

I agree with sonnet boy, when we've got our health the rest can be made to happen - or put up with more easily!! One or the other.