How often do any of us use this expression? I would bet that most of us do so unconsciously quite often.
I wish I had a bigger house, I wish I could get a new car, I wish I was younger or thinner, I wish my Mom or Dad were still alive, etc., etc..
Do you know that statistics on lottery winners show an extremely high rate of divorce and depression.
I don’t think that wishes are bad, but I think that selfish wishes only feed ones ego and create more suffering.
How many times do we wish for something that does not have an “I” in the sentence? Even when it is for someone else, try to examine the true nature of your wish. Is the root of it actually to benefit the self?
“I wish my friend would see how wrong they are”. Is that for your friend or for you?
I am often bewildered by the selfish, ego-driven society that we live in. Most Americans have so much compared to people in other countries, yet always we are wishing for more. Last year, lottery ticket sales in Illinois alone accounted for $2.3 billion dollars in revenue for the State! That’s an average of $177.00 per resident of Illinois. If you have a partner or spouse, that’s $354.00 per household that could have instead supported a starving child in Africa for an entire year.
But, as Bhante Sujatha would say, “what to do?”.
I have to accept that I cannot make anyone do anything. I can only try to be mindful and loving in my own thoughts and actions.
I cannot wish for anyone else to see differently or act differently. But we each possess so much power in our own determinations, that one by one we can change the World. We can save lives, feed the hungry, care for the old and dying, teach compassion through example. This is the power of one.
My only wish for today is the same I wish for every day.
That you may each be well, happy and peaceful.
