The Wiser Side of Wishing
Being given permission to wish for things is a childlike privilege that many adults are uncomfortable with. Making a wish seems to be like splurging on your birthday, treating yourself to a day off, or being silly — only approved on rare occasions.
Or worse. To many adults, making wishes ranks down there with having pipe dreams, not facing the facts, acting foolish, or being lazy. Wishing is sorely underrated.
Especially when we learn how to make wishes come true.
The Wiser Side of Wishing
Wishes are related to dreams and ideas, which turn into goals and plans. In its basic form, making a wish is lot like having hope.
Did you know optimism is directly related to physical accomplishment and material success? One body of research by University of Pennsylvania Professor Dr. Martin E.P. Seligman has shown that a positive outlook results in happiness, luck, and thriving in life.
Science says it. When we see what is possible, wish it for ourselves, and conclude we can have it, our luck improves and the odds move in our favor. So, luck is where you look for it.
Then again, wishes will never replace work. We know that. You find your four-leaf clover when you’re crawling around on the ground, not when you’re asleep in your bed. But that clover is growing somewhere while your eyes are closed. But when you let yourself dream of finding it, you remember that you need to look.
Whatever you wish for, you bring into your own personal possibility. Because you believe it to be there, you open a pathway for it to come into your life.
In this way, wishes are actual beginnings. They are actions with effects. They’re not just whimsy, but part of a measurable reality. Making wishes is the first step to making your own luck. And that’s why there are a few rules about wishes you should know.
6 Secret Rules About Wishes Everyone Needs to Practice
1. Wishes only work when they are about what hasn’t happened yet.
You can’t wish for a different past. Well, you can, but the only way a wish about the past can come true is for you to see the outcome in a different way. So wish for that. Look for an elevated view of the present regardless of, or as a result of, the past.
2. Wishes only work when they don’t depend on other people to be different.
Think about it: Has it ever worked for someone to simply wish something about you? If someone wished you had a different look, different interests, or different ideas… Well, you get it. When asked, we might work on changes to make others happy. But your wishes won’t change anyone. Only they can do that.
3. If enough people wish for the same thing, enormous change is possible.
We don’t always know how many people is enough, or for how long they must work to make their wishes come true. But we do know that it happens. And we know that making wishes, making them known, and sharing them with others of like mind is where the magic begins.
4. It only takes one person to tip the scales and make a difference.
At some point in every monumental change, discovery, agreement, project, journey, or invention, one person is the one person. The one who thought of it, or the one who saw it first. The one who wrote the words or who found the map. The one who voted to make a majority. The one who cared for the baby who grew up to be the one who cared for millions. Don’t underestimate the power of your wishes or your work on them. You could be the one.
5. You can’t fool Mother Nature.
Anything is possible, but not everything will happen. We affect many events and explore many possibilities, but nothing is promised to be whatever we wish. Nature will tend to take its course. Rain, fire, draught, flood. Cancer, arthritis, recovery, ability. Outer space, the ocean floor, the streets of the city, the vast desert sands. We, along with our wishes, dreams, ideas, and hopes, operate as part of Mother Nature’s family. Wish for a way to get along, not a way to conquer her.
6. Wishes come true all the time, even when you haven’t wished them.
I never wished for an instant and ever-present way to communicate with and learn from people and institutions all over the world, and yet I have the internet. How did that happen? I never wished for parents who made sure I knew I was loved or to have access to food in the pantry every day of my life, but I have had all this.
These are a few examples of life-altering circumstances for millions of people on this planet. If I didn’t have them, I’d likely wish for them. But I didn’t have to. How is that for a hidden gem/miraculous view?
Try making a list of all the incredible wishes you would have made that have turned out to be true for you. It will help you remember you don’t always know your own life’s potential. It is so great.
