When I was a child, I can remember my mother reading me a book about a magic genie that came out of a lamp and gave the possessor three wishes. I found myself thinking about this recently and I wonder if you or I were to receive three wishes would they be selfish ones?

Instead of wishing for something that would help mankind such as bringing peace to the world or to end homelessness, I likely would most likely just wish to stop receiving calls about my cars warranty or to maybe buy a Beef and Cheddar sandwich that actually looks like the one they advertise on television.

In reality, it makes little difference what we wish for as what is considered desired by you may be a disaster to another and yet that bears no influence on what actually happens. For example, a positive pregnancy test to one is a dream come true while another would see it as a horrible accident. It makes no difference what they want they are still just as pregnant.

A heavy rain can fall from the sky and if you live in a place that is having a drought then the rain is seen as a wonderful gift. If you live in a place that is already flooded then the rain is seen as a curse. It doesn’t matter what your view is. The rain falls just the same.

I remember when I was growing up, winter time was much different than it is today. We lived in Lincoln County in an area that was several miles from town in what could be referred to accurately as the boonies.   During this time, we would normally get some heavy snowfalls. Nothing was better than to wake up early in the morning and as I crawled out of bed with my hair standing straight up and only one eye open, I would hear my parents say,  “Go back to bed there is no school today”. I would spend the day playing board games with my siblings and watching The Young and the Restless with my mother.

I can remember on numerous occasions when I would close my eyes and pray as hard as I could that the snow would not melt so I could stay out of school another day. I didn’t realize that the heavy snow meant that my poor old father had to put chains on his tires just to make it to work. All I thought about was that math test that was waiting for me at school that I wanted to avoid at all cost. Isn’t it great that Mother Nature pays no mind to the wishes of little boys trying to get out of school.

In fact, Mother Nature has the impossible job of trying to make everyone happy at the same time which is an impossible venture. One person wishes for snow while the other wishes for a warm winter. One person prays for rain to help their garden while another prays for a sunny day so they can go for a hike. Since it’s impossible to make everyone happy, Mother Nature does exactly what she wants to do and we just have to live it.

Yes, reality depends on who is doing the looking. One sees a puppy and instantly wants to pet it. Another sees the same dog and goes into a panic due to fear. The dog doesn’t know anything about any of it. He is just sitting around and dreaming about bacon. Come to think of it, so am I.