There are quite a few fairy tale stories that involve the granting of
three wishes, such as the genie in a bottle story (a genie is released
from a bottle he had been imprisoned in. Out of gratitude the genie grants
his rescuer three wishes).
Once upon a time a man performed a great deed and was granted three
wishes in return. The man was smart and understood that he should think very
carefully before making each wish.
The First Wish
As the man pondered his first wish, he started realizing that there
were no restrictions on what he could wish for. And one of his first
concerns was that he only had three wishes. So rather than face a scarcity
of wishes, why not wish first and foremost for more wishes ? In fact,
why not wish for an infinite number of wishes, so that he would never run
out of wishes.
And so he spoke and said: "For my first wish, I wish that all my
wishes will come true for the rest of my life." The man felt
he had made a really smart move, and that he now was set for life. In fact,
he probably would not even need to ever use the other two wishes.
At first, life was wonderful for the man. "I wish I had a better job".
Poof: he had a better job. A few days later, "Actually, I wish I would
have a lot of money and never have to work again." Poof: he won the
lottery and never needed to work again. "I wish to marry a beautiful,
smart, funny, sensitive woman, who will love me as much as I love her." Poof:
The man met and married the woman of his dreams.
One day, an old friend of the man called him, and asked if he could
borrow some money. This angered the man, as many of his friends started
asking him such questions after winning the lottery. Out of anger
he told his friend: "I wish you'd drop dead." Poof: the friend on the other
end of the phone line had a heart attack and died. This shocked the man, and
on several other occasions bad things happened that he accidentally wished
by blurting something out he did not truly mean to wish.
The man's friends and family started getting very concerned about ever
getting him angry or upset, for fear he would accidentally wish something
bad upon them. And so more and more people that he loved and liked started
avoiding him, including his own wife.
The Second Wish
The man started growing worried and careful about what he said, even
what he thought. He got depressed and despondent about his situation. He slowly came to realize that
having all his wishes come true, while fun at first, required him to be
extremely careful with what he wished. In fact, he became very fearful that
he could inadvertently wish something that could affect many millions of
people or perhaps the fate of the entire world. His fear of that awesome
power made him think hard about how to correct his predicament.
As things got worse and worse, he decided to make the second or his 3
original wishes: "For my second wish, I wish to undo
my first wish: from now on I don't want any of my wishes to come true any
more for the rest of my life." And of course, as soon as he
uttered the words, he realized he should have been more careful with his
wording. From that moment on not a single wish or want that he had ever came true any
more.
When he wished that his life would get better, it actually got worse.
When he wished his wife would come back to him, she filed for divorce. When
he wished for his friends to like him again, they ran for the hills. And so
the man became even more despondent. He went into deep depression and became
a recluse, afraid of every thought he had, possibly turning out the
opposite.
The Third and Final Wish
Finally, it dawned on him that despite his smarts, and despite his careful
deliberations prior to making his first two wishes, he had been a fool. "I
have neither the wisdom nor the foresight to know the consequences of
anything I wish for. How can I possibly know what is the right thing to say
for my third and final wish, when I've already blown two of them? If I make
a mistake with this last wish, I will be stuck with it forever. These wishes
are not blessings; they've turned into curses!"
The man was wise enough not to blurt out a third and final wish
immediately. But rather, he sought the counsel of many wise men, and many
people who had great advice for him. And still he was in fear, of making a
mistake, of not making the perfect wish. His mind grew weary, and peace of
mind escaped him. He decided to go into the desert for 30 days and 30
nights. During that time he prayed and meditated, and asked for the wisdom
to make the right final wish.
During the final night, the man had a vision while dreaming, and when he awoke
in the morning after the 30th night, he felt light and
clearly saw what that third and final wish should be. From a place of
calmness, inner-peace and acceptance, he spoke his final wish:
"For my third and final wish, I wish that my life, that others, and
that the world return to the way things were before my first wish: an
unpredictable adventure, a wonder, a great mystery, with good and bad,
curses and blessings, sunshine and rain, turmoil and peace. I wish to trust
that life is for me, and to accept that life is perfect just the way
it is.
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
the courage to change the things I can;
and the wisdom to know the difference. "
And so the man's life returned to exactly the way it was before he was
granted three wishes, with one exception. He had his ups and downs as
before, but from that point on, no matter what happened he always had a slight smile, a
gentle glow, and a knowing that life is always exactly the way it "should" be.
And that's the way he wished it.