WISH

Star light, star bright,

The first star I see tonight;

I wish I may, I wish I might,

Have the wish I wish tonight

We all know this nursery rhyme and I also know that many of us, and I would not hesitate to say nearly ALL of us have done this one time or another--there are times I STILL do at my ripe old age of sixty years.   

Unfortunately, and I don't' remember the numbers I once saw posted, many of those wishes were wasted because that "star" wasn't a star after all but the planet, Venus- which for a good chunk of the year is the first star that appears in the night sky.     That's the astronomer in me talking.

Looking back through the years I've seen very often, my wishes have come true--my family, friends, horses, hobbies are often the result of wishes of one sort or another.  Well, they could be called wishes.   They also could be called prayers or self-belief or taking control of one's life.  Changes and desires can be made to occur by self-reliance.  Napoleon Hill once said, "Whatever you conceive and believe you can achieve." Often, through my life,  this quote and another, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you." which is reported that Jesus said in Luke, 17:6, have been the rudders that I have leaned on.  And in many cases, I've found them to be true for me.

I have never seen any of my great, humongous wishes come true...any that don't make a change in my life personally haven't happened.  I can wish for World Peace or that no one ever be hungry again or violence be stricken from humanity.  But I've learned that those don't happen.  Better, I've decided to wish for or make little changes in the world around me...hoping and praying that those changes are like yawns and are contagious.  If everyone tried to make their little piece of world better - by touching someone or something around them - then the great, humongous wishes just might come true .  By becoming selfless rather than selfish great things can and will occur.

I'm watching a friend make a great number of life changes right now.  She has learned to believe in herself and only recently she told me she was happy.  I'm watching a teenage girl beginning to spread her wings, again because she believes in herself and as a senior in high school is ready to fashion her world into what she wants.  And she will because of her self-reliance.

Wishes and wishing are only a part of the equation.  Believing in yourself and the will to sacrifice for what you want are more of the ingredients.   James M. Barrie (of Peter Pan fame) said,  " Dreams do come true, if we only wish hard enough.  You can have anything in life if you will sacrifice everything for it. " And he's right!

So next time you see that first star...go ahead and wish on it.  Even if it's Venus, the kernel of your dream will be planted.  But it's up to you to make that wish come true, it definitely is NOT in the stars!