I’ve thrown dozens of pennies into fountains, made wishes at 11:11 hundreds of times, blew out bunches of dandelions, have had 20 birthday cakes, and won just one round of wishbone tug-of-war. I’ve missed multiple shooting stars and anticipate missing many more. At this point I think the only way to get my wishes granted would be if a genie magically appeared and granted them to me.
But I’ve also accepted that genies aren’t real and therefore will never grant three of my lifelong wishes. So, I guess my only option is to make my own wishes come true. It will take a lot of willpower, perseverance, focus, patience and embodiment but I believe that, with time and an open mindset, I can do it.
Here are my three wishes.
1. I wish that I will live a life of pure happiness and spread it to others.
This sounds easy, but believe me: it’s not. Being happy and spreading that feeling to those around you is a very hard thing to do everyday of your life. It takes patience, acceptance of others and confidence to do so successfully.
2. I wish to be content with myself and my life.
Being content with yourself if extremely difficult.
There will always be things about yourself that you don’t like and thoughts that you wish you didn’t have. I learned a new method of becoming content with yourself at a yoga class I took last week.
Your body, also called your temple, will be with you throughout your entire life. You need to know, love and cherish your temple. You must understand that no matter what is going on in your life, whether it is good or bad, it will pass. The one thing you will always have is your body and self.
3. I wish to end climate change.
Obviously I can’t single-handedly fix our polluted planet, but there are ways that I can help. By reducing, reusing, recycling and spreading awareness to others, I can make a big difference in my community.
I encourage you to think back on the wishes you’ve made when you’ve had dandelions, birthdays and wishbones. Write them down and make a list of how you can work towards making them happen yourself. Just make sure they’re realistic because finding a unicorn would be pretty tricky.