 For example, I have been given the blessing of enough food to eat.
Many people throughout the world do not have this blessing.I am
very grateful that I can go into a grocery store and buy almost
anything under its roof. The curse here is that I can buy almost
anything under its roof... which is why I'm struggling with losing
weight.
I can be thankful that I live in a country where no one can tell
me what to do, how to live or what I can buy. I could wish for a
little patrol officer to sit on my shoulder and police the things I
eat, but would that be a blessing?
He'd sit there, waving all the good-for-you stuff through --
"Carrots, OK; yogurt, OK; strawberries, OK; cheesecake? Wait just a
minute!" Then he'd blow his little whistle in my ear and that lovely
cheesecake would disappear!
No, I don't really want the little food police, thank you very
much. I'd prefer to have a guilty conscience... and be thankful for
it.
My life is chaotic, stressful and messy at times. My kids make it
chaotic. My work makes it stressful. And my total lack of domestic
ability makes it messy.
I could wish for less chaos, but then the genie that grants
wishes would take away my kids. With no children, whom would I have
to blame for my messy house?
I could wish for less stress, but that darn genie would probably
take away my livelihood. I would certainly lose weight then, but I
think we've already established that a guilty conscience speaks to a
part of me that my scale could never reach.
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 I could wish for a bigger house to spread out the mess and make
it look merely cluttered. The stupid genie would not only give me
more space, but he'd pre-fill it with more mess. It would be like
living in the basement of a history museum.
One benefit might be periodically finding something you haven't
seen since the Cold War.
"Oh, honey, will you look at this! I found the garter I wore to
the senior prom!" Of course, my thighs were less thunderous back
then. I could wear it as a bracelet now.
Truly, it doesn't pay to wish for more than what you have.
If you want a change, it is better to make it happen yourself.
Otherwise, the genies in your life will certainly screw it all up.
They don't have your vision. In fact, they can be downright
malicious.
Wishing is dangerous.
My advice to you is to be so thankful for what you have that the
genies will have nothing to do. Then instead of wishing for a change
you think you may want, make it happen the way you envision it. That
way, you can do the necessary tweaking along the way.
The genies would never even think of tweaking.
[By LAURA SNYDER]
Laura Snyder is a nationally syndicated columnist,
author and speaker. You can reach her at
lsnyder@lauraonlife.com
or visit www.lauraonlife.com
for more info.
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