Before you read the story below, write one wish on a piece of paper. Don’t wish for more wishes and don’t give your wish to someone else. Take some time to think about it.
During my very first semester at Valencia, back when it was a Community College, my English composition professor had everyone in the class write one wish on a sheet of notebook paper and pass it forward. The stipulations were that we couldn’t wish for more wishes and we couldn’t give our wish to anyone else. We could write our name at the top of the paper, or we could leave it anonymous. Once professor Sebacher collected all the notebook paper wishes, she read them quietly and sorted them. She was left with two stacks on her desk: One stack of three wishes and the other stack with the rest of the wishes. She picked up the thick stack of wishes and explained that all of those wishes were for money or for something money could buy. Then she picked up the stack that had three notebook paper wishes and read them out loud.
Before I tell you the three wishes, I want to tell you how I decided on my wish since it’s one of the three. My first instinct was to wish for more wishes for others to use, but she took that option away with the stipulations. Of course, I wish I had more money and better things, but I didn’t want my wish to be selfish because I feel like that would have been a wasted wish. After all I only had one wish and I wanted it to benefit as many people as possible. I think I started writing my wish before it was even a complete thought: I wish the world would be freed from its suffering. I basically wished for salvation. I put my name at the top of the paper and passed it forward. The three wishes my professor read aloud were:
1. I wish to pass this class.
2. I wish everyone would get along.
3. I wish the world would be freed from its suffering.
Professor Sebacher looked at me after reading the last one and gave me a nod of approval. I left that class in disbelief about how selfish and greedy people are. I wondered what a wish better than mine might look like. A world without suffering would be something like Heaven. I always like hearing my family and friends’ responses when I ask them what their wish would be. What wish did you write down? It’s a cool way to evaluate your perspective.
