Imagine that you were given an antique Alladin lamp for Christmas. A couple of days after receiving the gift, you decide, just for fun, to give the lamp a rub. Lo and behold, much to your amazement, a genie materializes and asks, “Thank you for conjuring me. You are now eligible to ask for three wishes.”
If such a thing were to happen to you, what would you wish for and why? I look forward to reading your responses.
Troy Headrick’s personal blog can be found here. If you’d like to see some of Troy’s art, have a look.
Wish 1: Eradicate COVID-19 from all corners of the Earth.
And to be delightfully honest, I put the lamp down…for the time being.
Happy new year, Troy, and my best wishes to you for 2022! By the way, what would your 3 wishes be?
Hi. Your first wish is great, but I’m curious about why you’d like to put the lamp down after only one wish. Are going to come back to the lamp later or is one wish enough? Thanks for reading and commenting.
Yes, I would return to the lamp after the virus is wiped from the Earth. I would imagine a collective sigh by all peoples, a moment to see what life would be/could be like. The final two I would use once life has settled – whether for personal or global reasons.
I like many others would wish for health, friendship and the possibility for happiness.
But I believe a Stoic response would be along the lines of Epictetus’ quote “Demand not that things happen as you wish, but wish them to happen as they do, and you will go on well.”
The Stoic in me draws me to the idea of not wishing for anything but simply being at peace with what is. Thanks, Andrew.
I’m not as unselfish as Natasha, I’m afraid: COVID19 eradication didn’t hit my brain. I did hear Robin William’s voice telling me not to ask for more wishes.
Wish one: cure my mom. Of the metastasized lung cancer that will kill her fairly soon, and of the type one diabetes that was totally unfair. A virus destroyed her pancreas.
Wish two: a big pile of money. Things are cliche for a reason and money makes things easier. It’s likely on the list because I live close to the poverty line and that’s both tiring and stressful.
Wish three: hard to express. There are certain humans that make me despair. The ugly, the racist, the bigoted, the violent. I suppose I wish for evolution. I wish that the people who are full of darkness and wrongness would evolve into what humanity could be and should be. And the really bad ones can just disappear a la the Thanos snap. Some people don’t get the chance to evolve: they’re too evil and nasty.
It’s a wish, so I don’t have to be altruistic. I’m never going to reach saint status anyhow.
I’m very sorry to hear about your mother. My father has Parkinson’s, so I know how it feels to watch a loved one suffer from illness. I love your third wish. If only we could make it happen. The world would be such a nicer place if we could open our eyes and minds a little more. A pile of money sounds fantastic too. I really like your wishes! Thanks so much for reading and commenting.
Interesting question. I did a post answering this about two years ago. At the time, my wishes were all personal: 1. to live in a care facility like th eone I live in now but closer to my husband, 2. unlimited ParaTransit rides so that I could visit my friends and family whenever I wanted to without relying on my husband and the third I can’t remember right now.
Hi, Astrid. Thanks so much for sharing your wishes. Do you blog? If so, why not leave a link here so we can check out your writing? All the best…
Hi, yes, I do blog. My blog is at https://astridetal.com/. The post that more or less answers your question, is several years old, so it may be hard to find that specific one. Do you want me to dig it up out of the archive?
Hi, Astrid. You can dig it out if you wish. I really wanted to look at your writing in general. I’ll check out your blog. Thanks for sharing!
Wow, now that’s a big question, Troy! Starting the year off with a bang, aren’t you? I like Natasha’s answer so I’m not going to wish for those same things.
How about?
1. A yearly hour of quiet for everyone on the planet (same hour, everything human goes quiet). Maybe it would help reset the whole world’s central nervous system. Maybe it wouldn’t – but it probably couldn’t hurt.
2. End to climate change.
3. Education for all
What would you wish for Troy?
Oooh I love wish #1! 😍 would that also include machines such as TV, cars and so on, or just no talking for people?
Hi, Wynne. I love your wishes, especially the first one. The other night, as the new year got started, there were so many people shooting loud fireworks where we live. The thought came to me at that time how silly it is to be so into noisiness. A quieter world would be a lovelier world. I love the idea of “resetting” the “world’s central nervous system.” I think I’d like to adopt your wishes as my own. I might add a wish to help my aging parents who have some pretty serious health issues. I would love to be able to wish away the hardships my mother and father face on a daily basis. Thanks so much, Wynne!
Ah, those are good wishes, Troy. To ease the sufferings of our parents. Yes! Great post!
I’ve been thinking further about this. Yes, I would like to ease the suffering of my parents, and your wishes are good too. I would also like to wish for the time and inspiration to be very creative this year. Also, I’d like the opportunity to move abroad again with my wife. I guess three wishes aren’t enough!
Oh wow the answers that popped in my mind were endless.
Ok here goes…
Wish 1: A jumper like that movie so i can travel freely and have fun
Wish 2: no more covid or any sort of deadly diseases
Wish 3: a gimmick that can take me back in time to reverse some seriously messed up scenarios and get to spend more time with dad, may he rest in peace.
Yes! I’d love to go back in time and redo quite a few things myself. Perhaps we’d need to wish for great wisdom, too, just so we could have the intellectual wherewithal to make better decisions? Thanks so much for reading and commenting.
😂😍 It would be so awesome
!Where’s that genie when we need him? Thanks
I would run away from the genie. They are tricky and will turn your wishes to ash.
I didn’t think about the genie being a bad guy! I suppose he’s sort of playing the role of the serpent in the garden, isn’t he? Thanks for making me pause and reconsider.
I watched X-Files. I know these things can’t be trusted. You wish for something and you get it but in a way it actually hurts you.
I might ask the genie what it wants.
Hi, Fred. See L. K. Latham’s above response. Your comment is a version of the dog chasing the car and then being sorry when he catches it. Thanks for leaving such a cool comment.
1. Pay off my student loans.
2. Pay off my student loans.
3. Pay off my students loans.
Yes it will take three wishes to pull that off
#3 is a typo–it is just student, not students, sorry I need the wishes all for me!
I hear you. I had student loans in the past. Luckily, mine weren’t very big. It would be nice to live in a country that provides free university education for all. Educating young people should be seen as an investment in the future! I wish you luck, Hetty Eliot, and thanks for reading and commenting.
Not original, but I’d wish that everyone would genuinely endeavor to apply the Golden Rule 24/7/365 to everyone else they share this planet with.
That’s a great wish, Fred D. It’s such a great one that you really only need one. Thanks for commenting.
I would have only one big wish. Humankind learns to live in harmony with nature, stop considering Mother Earth as someone to exploit and begin considering our planet as our true home.
Hi, crisbiecoach. That’s a great wish. Unfortunately, it requires that humankind get much smarter than it currently is. Perhaps we need to wish for greater wisdom for all first? Recent news doesn’t seem to be very positive either. I feel rather bleak when it comes to this topic. Thanks for commenting.
Indeed, you are right!
First, I would ask for a healthy mind and body which is lacking now. Secondly, I request to give maximum strengths and financial stability to provide an assistance for the needy which apparently is not fulfilled entirely due to my current social status. Finally, I will ask almighty blessings for not to leave its grace to overcome any challenges that is befallen upon me because that’s when I lose my hope and makes it harder to focus on the good deeds. Wish you a happy new year Troy.
Excellent question, Troy!
1. I would probably relive memories or change the ending of my dad’s recent passing, hoping to provide more peace for my mother and siblings.
2. Ending COVID would ease some suffering for a bit. However things would be doubly worse the next time an epidemic arose. I’d wish instead that no one else would die or become dangerously ill or affected by COVID.
3. Wynne had an excellent idea: a yearly quiet time. Adding to that, I’d wish for 2 yearly quiet hours worldwide.
However the cynic in me wonders if these wishes will cause more harm than good? Wishing away our pain, suffering, and regrets doesn’t make us stronger. Just more dependent on the next genie. Making quiet time isn’t achievable but it’s unlikely to be universal. Nonetheless I’ll change my last wish: no one with ill intent can ever discover or use a genie.