The Confused Three Wishes of this Eighty Year Old

I am eighty years old inside a thirty-two year old body. I am generally not in the loop, and I’m not good with terms. For instance, I have a tendency to call a contest a challenge, and a challenge a contest. My brain also likes to mix up # and @, and even in proof-reading the brain likes to deny their proper placements.

If the sun had been just a bit to the left, it would have been in its proper place blasting through those branches...

So, #karbon @karbon has nominated me for one of these contests challenges, and it is handy, because tonight I don’t much feel like writing something else. So, without further delay, my three wishes:

Wish Number One

I was at a stop light, late afternoon, the windows rolled down, when the wind brought the sound of palm fronds to my ear. The sky looked a bit angry, and a quiet sort of wind was suddenly blowing in—the sort that grows, and ushers in a storm. It reminded me of being a child.

I can recall standing on the rocks, just past the sea wall, looking at an angry storm like that. The waves would be crashing against those rocks, hitting me with spray, but I would not be me. I’d be a mermaid, watching a ship from olden times get battered by the ocean. Or, I’d be a peasant girl standing in my long skirt, feeling grateful to be able to run safely back to my village.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have the enthusiasm of childhood again? Not just the enthusiasm, but the imagination. I’d love to sit down and build a Lego truck, and then be deeply entertained by imagining driving it, like my son. I’d love to feel that excitement regularly again. But not all the time—I certainly don’t want to give up adulthood. I’d like to schedule times when I can return to my childhood enthusiasm.

I can see it now—two men standing in suits and ties next to a cubicle. One says with excitement, “I start my vacation tomorrow!” The other suit-man nods knowingly. “I’m going to drive the tanker truck, rescue a city from a super-villain, and maybe watch a few dinosaurs fight.”

I think your average adult human would be much better off if he could tap into that urge to create his own version of an exciting world.

Wish Number Two

We parents look back on our days and cringe sometimes. Nobody is perfect, but as the main person responsible with helping another human turn out moderately well adjusted, there is always a heavy dose of guilt. And that guilt is almost always due to responding poorly to emotions.

I would like to be the perfect master of my emotions. I would like to, at any given time, remember that emotions are fleeting. Most of the time we have the power to choose them, and those other times we have the power to not react to them. We could take a cue from #galenkp @galenkp, and wake up every day ready to make an effort to be our best self. I’m working on it, but I’m not too great at it yet.

Now just imagine if all humans were born with the build-in knowledge that we can choose to not react to our unpleasant emotions—not feed those emotions—and then wait for them to pass? There would be so much less suffering. And a hell of a lot less work figuring that out.

Wish Number Three

I wish that I knew all things that would be best to wish for. This one falls into that naughty “wish for more wishes” category. Although this version of it isn’t entirely selfish, it is just lazy.

Alright @blacklux, you’ve hit me with these before, and now I am returning the favor. I’m excited to hear your wishes, and I trust they will benefit our tribe ;)

@goat-girlz, I’m taking you down with me too – consider yourself nominated.