Three Wishes

It is the classic gift, a chance to have three wishes granted. I have thought about this a lot at different times in my life, and in the end it always comes down to the same basic three desires:

Physical perfection
Financial security
Spiritual perfection

Physical perfection
As a teenager my wishes involved a desire to get rid of my hated glasses, the occasional acne breakout on my otherwise flawless skin, and what I thought was an excessive amount of weight. Now I wish I had the figure and the skin I had as a teenager. I did not know ~ back in the days of Farah Fawcett with her big teeth, big hair and tiny chest ~ that I was built like a brick house.
I did not have a tiny chest. The girls were large, high and firm ~ an attribute much desired by today’s teenagers, some of whom go under the knife at 15 to get the same effect. Duh!
I did get an occasional acne breakout, something that could have been simply resolved with a visit to the dermatologist, if I had only known. But a short lived pimple on the chin is a whole lot better than wrinkles around the eyes, the constant itching and rawness from eczema on my legs and arms, and yes, I still get those pesky pimples on my chin.
I still wear glasses, now they are bifocals and they don’t do the job. While I’m wishing for my teenaged self, I’d be okay with getting my old teeth and hair back, too.
The one thing I have now that I didn’t have then was comfort in my own skin. I truly thought I was an ugly duckling as a teenager, but I had no hope of ever turning into a swan. I wish I had known then the one thing keeping me from swanhood was my head. All I needed was a little self confidence.

Financial security
As a teenager this meant I could go to the mall and buy myself pretty clothes, thereby granting an instant in with the “popular crowd.”
Now financial security means I have enough money to pay the bills, buy groceries and have a little left over for paper.
Actually, were I to dream big. Financial security would mean I would have a house in St. George Utah and another one in Star Valley Wyoming. I would have a car big enough for the entire family ~ and our luggage. I might even own a people mover with a DVD player in the back seat so the children could watch shows instead of argue over space when we traveled back and fourth from Wyoming to Utah.
While I’m dreaming I’d like a thriving career as a freelance designer / writer. It would be the kind of career where I was paid a lot of money and I didn’t have to work really hard for it.
The problem with my financial security dream is, the line keeps moving out of reach. I read on a bumper sticker these words “all I want is a little bit more than I will ever have!” This pretty much sums it up for me, too.
In reality, financial security is not having all you want, but wanting all you have. I’m still working on that goal.

Spiritual perfection
This is the ultimate goal, and let’s just say I’m a long way from reaching it. Like financial security the goal line keeps moving.
But the interesting thing about my spiritual goal is, should I concentrate on it not only would the other goals be unimportant, should I ever reach the goal of spiritual perfection, the other goals will fall into place.
So why is it always the last thing on my three wishes list, when it should be the first and only wish, goal and desire of my heart?