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The Wishing Game

Personalized support for learning how to integrate mindfulness into your life. Delivered fresh everyday by our world renowned experts. Choose meditation duration:

Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Today, I'm going to talk about the wishing game. So there's an old story about this. Five children were playing the wishing game. The first child was asked, so if you had a wish, what would you want? She replied, "If I had a wish, I would want an ice cream." Then the second child who was a few years older said, "If I had a wish, I'd wish for an ice cream factory." and the first child thought, "Oh wow.

That's so clever." The third child was then asked,. "You know, what would you wish?" He said, Well, if I had a wish, it would be for a billion dollars because with a billion dollars, I can buy an ice cream factory, a cookie factory hamburger shop, and a skateboard shop. Then I can have whatever I want whenever I wanted." Well, the first two kids went, "Oh, wow. That is the best wish ever. That's so clever." They thought this kid is a genius.

Now the next child, when they asked him, you know, "What would you wish for?" He said, "Well, if I had a wish, I would wish that I had three wishes. So I could wish for an ice cream factory with my first wish, a billion dollars with my second wish, and with my third wish I would wish for another three wishes." Well, of course all the kids' jaws dropped. "Oh wow. Weeh," they said this, "You've really cracked the code here. You're amazing." So the fable goes, the last child was the young Buddha.

When it was his turn, he said, "I would wish that I had no wishes at all so that I could be happy, fulfilled, and content." This really sweet story points to a mental trap that we often get ourselves stuck in. The trap of always wishing for this moment to be different and therefore cultivating a kind of background sense of dissatisfaction. So when you're always wishing for something else, you're never fully satisfied, never fully allowing yourself to drop into contentment and never quite fully present with what is. Now of course letting go of the wishing game doesn't mean that we can never plan for things or make positive changes in our lives. It simply means learning to let go of the continuous mental storylines that say this moment is not good enough.

I need more. I need this, that or the other before I can be happy. So this is the invitation for practice today to see if you can notice when the wishing game arises in your mind, the stories about what you need before you can be happy. And when they do arise, just letting them go as best you can and switch your focus to appreciation and gratitude for something about the present moment experience. So you just want to pick one thing or two things you're really grateful for and let the energy of gratitude and contentment fill your body and mind.

By opening to the enoughness and fullness of our lives, we naturally live with more presence, contentment and joy. As the old saying goes, "Happiness is not having what you want. It's appreciating what you have." As always, thank you for your practice and your presence here. Let's settle in now for today's meditation.

Melli O'Brien

4.8

The Wishing Game

Personalized support for learning how to integrate mindfulness into your life. Delivered fresh everyday by our world renowned experts. Choose meditation duration:

Duration

Your default time is based on your progress and is changed automatically as you practice.

Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Today, I'm going to talk about the wishing game. So there's an old story about this. Five children were playing the wishing game. The first child was asked, so if you had a wish, what would you want? She replied, "If I had a wish, I would want an ice cream." Then the second child who was a few years older said, "If I had a wish, I'd wish for an ice cream factory." and the first child thought, "Oh wow.

That's so clever." The third child was then asked,. "You know, what would you wish?" He said, Well, if I had a wish, it would be for a billion dollars because with a billion dollars, I can buy an ice cream factory, a cookie factory hamburger shop, and a skateboard shop. Then I can have whatever I want whenever I wanted." Well, the first two kids went, "Oh, wow. That is the best wish ever. That's so clever." They thought this kid is a genius.

Now the next child, when they asked him, you know, "What would you wish for?" He said, "Well, if I had a wish, I would wish that I had three wishes. So I could wish for an ice cream factory with my first wish, a billion dollars with my second wish, and with my third wish I would wish for another three wishes." Well, of course all the kids' jaws dropped. "Oh wow. Weeh," they said this, "You've really cracked the code here. You're amazing." So the fable goes, the last child was the young Buddha.

When it was his turn, he said, "I would wish that I had no wishes at all so that I could be happy, fulfilled, and content." This really sweet story points to a mental trap that we often get ourselves stuck in. The trap of always wishing for this moment to be different and therefore cultivating a kind of background sense of dissatisfaction. So when you're always wishing for something else, you're never fully satisfied, never fully allowing yourself to drop into contentment and never quite fully present with what is. Now of course letting go of the wishing game doesn't mean that we can never plan for things or make positive changes in our lives. It simply means learning to let go of the continuous mental storylines that say this moment is not good enough.

I need more. I need this, that or the other before I can be happy. So this is the invitation for practice today to see if you can notice when the wishing game arises in your mind, the stories about what you need before you can be happy. And when they do arise, just letting them go as best you can and switch your focus to appreciation and gratitude for something about the present moment experience. So you just want to pick one thing or two things you're really grateful for and let the energy of gratitude and contentment fill your body and mind.

By opening to the enoughness and fullness of our lives, we naturally live with more presence, contentment and joy. As the old saying goes, "Happiness is not having what you want. It's appreciating what you have." As always, thank you for your practice and your presence here. Let's settle in now for today's meditation.

Melli O'Brien

4.8

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