WHAT WISHES WILL YOU GRANT YOURSELF?
“Star light, star bright. First star I see tonight. I wish I may . . . I wish I might . . . have the wish I wish tonight.”
The question is: What are you wishing for? You see, everything you think can turn into a wish. You’re constantly creating. Constantly crafting your present and your future. And so carrying emotions and attitudes with you each day is akin to making wishes. Fortunately, wishes often take a little while to manifest, so you have time to “unwish” what you thought about that guy who just cut you off in traffic.
When most people “make a wish” by blowing out the candles on a birthday cake or blowing away the seeds from a dandelion, they have a tendency to ask for something that they don’t even believe can be theirs. They either don’t see how to change their current circumstances or don’t believe they’re deserving of their dreams.
You can wish for whatever you like, but if you don’t believe, then you’re really just wishing for the opposite of what you want. What you truly believe to be likelier to happen will override your stated wish. If you don’t believe it’s possible, then you’re just asking the Universe to match your expectations by keeping things the way they are.
A sense of unworthiness is running rampant through the world these days. And, of course, those who feel that they don’t merit happiness are usually the people most deserving of it. At least that’s how I’ve observed it. I travel around the world teaching, and I constantly see angelic people. Those sweet, kind folks who are constantly doing for others . . . always giving, rarely receiving, because they don’t believe that they’re good enough.
Wishing is a practice of faith. (That word is in boldface because it should be thought of as a bold endeavor!) Wishing requires you to claim that this is your moment. This is your time to shine and to be happy and to have what you want! But to do that, you must wish with optimism and confidence of your own deservingness.
You must make a wish of love that’s turned inward.
No matter who you are or what your circumstances are, I want you to hear me now: You. Are. Deserving! You are, you are, you are. You deserve every dream you ever had. There’s a reason you have those dreams, even if it was just to show you it wasn’t what you wanted after all and to lead you to a new and better dream. All your dreams are real and important and valid. They’re just waiting for you to open your arms and embrace them with happiness.
The great spiritual writer Esther Hicks once said, “Never face reality unless your reality is just the way you want it to be.” Becoming your own Genie means having control over your reality. It’s a bit like hitting the reset button on your life. You get in touch with your Genie and exit the lamp, and suddenly the world is one big magic bubble of potential. You have the opportunity to completely reinvent yourself. You’re not just your own Genie; suddenly you’re your own life designer!
For all this to happen, you’ll have to make choices. You’ll have to say yes to the person you want to create. You’ll probably have to change, and I know that change can be frightening to people. Yet it can also be uplifting. Exhilarating! Making the right choices can take your life from humdrum to fantastic very quickly.
Choosing is a very important part of having a magical life. Its power can’t be overstated. Truth be told, many people don’t make a lot of powerful decisions in their lives. They may choose their careers, their homes, or their cars. People think that they decide whom to marry, where in the world to live, and whether to have children. But if they were truly honest with themselves and took the time to review these decisions very closely, a lot of them might find that they just went with the path of least resistance. They did what their parents, spiritual leaders, politicians, and friends expected them to do. They may live close to where they were born, have taken whatever jobs fell into their laps, and have married whoever happened to present themselves. They may have even told themselves that the person they married was the best they could do.
But, you see, this is not deciding . . . it’s basically just coasting. This is abdicating responsibility for the direction your life will go. It can be tantamount to tossing all prospects for true joy in your life up into the air and hoping that the wind is blowing in the right direction to get you there.
Remember, you’re a Genie! You don’t have to just “hope” everything works out. You have magic, and through your conscious choices, you can make wishes come true!
“OOPS! I FORGOT MY LIFE PURPOSE”
A few years ago, I was feeling pretty stuck, working for the government as a certified public accountant. I had already quit that life once back in 2001 but returned to it in 2005 when my fears got the best of me. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with myself, but I knew I couldn’t stay in accounting forever—especially not the job I was in.
I had lots of friends who did intuitive readings, but I wanted one from someone who didn’t know me. I came across one person who had written a book, and something just sort of felt right about her. So I called her and scheduled a reading.
When we started the session, I told her that my main concern was that I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life.
She immediately replied, “Yes, you do.”
I understood why she might say that, but I just very nicely corrected her. She came back at me pretty aggressively, saying that my angels were telling her that I knew exactly what I was supposed to be doing with my life.
We went back and forth about it a few times, and then I got irritated with her. I ended the session after just 20 minutes, even though I had paid for an hour.
Sometimes the right thing to do is to ignore the messenger but keep the message. I didn’t like the way she delivered the message, but within three years I knew that she had been absolutely right. I had fully known when talking to her exactly what I wanted to do with my life. The problem was that I just didn’t think it could happen!
I had already tried to do metaphysical work as my career for the previous four years and had gotten nowhere. My ego was taking this handy-dandy example and using that “failure” to limit my progress. Since I didn’t believe that it was possible for me to do what I so yearned to do, I was left confused about my direction and purpose.
You have your dreams for a reason. You honestly do. Perhaps you’re in a situation like I was in where you’ve “forgotten” your dreams because you’ve given up on them as even being possible. Well, it’s time to remember those dreams, dust them off, and give them another look. Maybe your desires have changed, so those old dreams are no longer applicable. When I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut and travel among the stars in a beautiful spaceship, but that’s not a dream that’s relevant for me anymore.
On the other hand, the dream of becoming a spiritual teacher and author . . . now that put the stars back in my eyes. I just had to remember that it was my dream and then believe it was possible.
One of the things I highly recommend you do in order to get really clear on your wishes for your life is to examine your beliefs and let go of the ones that no longer work for you, hold you back, or make you feel bad or guilty. Basically, if a belief system keeps you from being your fullest, truest self, it needs to get the old heave-ho—tossed overboard from your little boat of life. Limiting beliefs about yourself and your ability to have whatever you want should also be jettisoned, pronto!
My friend Polly once told me that sometimes the dreams that come true are the ones you never even knew you had. I love that, because it’s absolutely true! I know that in my life I can think back to magical and amazing things that happened to me that were just that: dreams that came true that I didn’t even know about. In retrospect, those have absolutely been some of the very best “dreams come true” of my life.
WILLY-NILLY WISHING
Making wishes does take focus, though. I highly recommend that you fully understand what you’re wishing for before asking Heaven and your angels. Not doing so is what I call “willy-nilly wishing.” This falls under the category of: “Be careful what you wish for, as you just might get it.”
In that same vein, I don’t particularly subscribe to the idea that wishes must be kept secret. Sometimes I will talk with friends or family about what I’m wishing for. The clarity you gain can be incredibly freeing, especially if an insightful conversation suddenly causes you to realize: “Um . . . you know what? Maybe I don’t want that after all!”
No matter how well I’ve thought a wish through—which I do, sometimes—it may not be the best thing for me. When that is the case, God will always give me something better. I have lots of friends who end their prayers with, “This I ask for, or something better.” We should abide by that same sentiment when we make a wish.
Finally, it’s important to dream big! You may have to break your wish down into manageable pieces—smaller wishes that lead to one big dream come true. But the long-term goal for yourself should be something amazing—something worthy of a big-time, child-of-the-Divine, magical Genie like you!
Lesson #4: Perfect-Life Bio
So here’s a fun way to get some clarity on what wishes you might want to make come true for yourself. Find yourself a little quiet time. You don’t have to have a lot, maybe 20 minutes. Grab a pen and paper, or a laptop . . . whatever way you like to write.
Now write your own biography as if your life was perfect—the way you would like it to be. Include every area, both in your professional and personal lives. That might look like: “Linda lives in her dream home in the suburbs of Seattle, Washington, with her husband, Allan. They have two wonderful children, Zack and Brianna. When she’s not writing a book or running her animal rescue, her hobbies include salsa dancing . . .”
Now once you’ve done that, sit back and compare your dream bio to your current life. No fair beating yourself up if they don’t match up very well. Remember, you’re not grading or judging yourself. That’s not the point. The point here is to see if you’re headed in the direction of your dreams. Are your days, weeks, and months leading you on the path you want to be on? Are you taking at least baby steps toward the life you want to live?
If so, then bravo! You may still see areas in your bio that need more attention so that you can make adjustments to your path.
If your daily life is not leading you in the direction of your dream bio, then you’ve got some changes to make.
Look again at your Perfect-Life Bio. Which items in your description make you the most excited? What are you hoping for most? Focus on one particular item initially. Then consider whether making it come true feels to you like it’s completely doable or a stretch. If it’s a stretch, then break it down into smaller wishes and turn to those first.