BY JEFF CORBETT

A married couple in their early 60s was celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary in a quiet, romantic little restaurant.

Suddenly, a tiny yet beautiful fairy appeared on their table. She said, “For being such an exemplary married couple and for being loving to each other for all this time, I will grant you each a wish.”

The wife answered, “Oh, I want to travel around the world with my darling husband.”

The fairy waved her magic wand and poof! Two tickets for the Queen Mary II appeared in her hands.

The husband thought for a moment and then gave his answer: ‘Well, this is all very romantic, but an opportunity like this will never come again. I’m sorry my love, but my wish is to have a wife 30 years younger than me.”

The wife — and the fairy — were deeply disappointed, but a wish is a wish.

So the fairy waved her magic wand and poof! Suddenly, the husband was 92 years old.

‘I Wish’

As illustrated in the story above, the old saying “Be careful what you wish for” is very true.

Think of all the times you’ve started a sentence with “I wish…”

For just having four letters, this short, powerful word conjures up feelings of all types.

Wishing could be regret when you say “I wish I had studied longer for the test,” or “I wish I hadn’t bought this car.”

Wishing can be a blessing, as in “I wish you much success in your new job”, or to newlyweds “Best wishes for many years of happiness.”

Author Jim Rohn’s advice: “Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better.”

FOMO

FOMO, which stands for “Fear of Missing Out,” is a major source of envy, resentment, and inadequacy.

It’s a feeling of anxiety or worry that others might be having more fun than you, living a better life than you, or experiencing better things than you are.

This feeling often stems from a sense of being excluded or left out.

Our constant exposure to social media, where people share highlights of their life, can exacerbate this fear. We see the smiling faces of friends in expensive cars, beach trip selfies on some tropical island, conjuring thoughts of the idyllic life we wish we could have.

Would you agree with the sneaking suspicion that much of what others are posting on social media makes their lives appear more glamorous or exciting than they really are?

I compare FOMO with Alfred Hitchcock’s great quote: “Movies are life with the dull parts cut out.”

In the movies, you never see celebrities standing in line at the DMV, buying toilet paper and toothpaste, or doing laundry.

With FOMO, you only see the non-stop luxurious lifestyle that you wish you had.

Don’t wish for what others have, but rather turn around and look in the opposite direction, and see all you have been blessed with, especially the people in your life who bring you joy, and the opportunities you have been given.

Treasure Every Day

So often the best things in life are the normal, everyday things.

Listen to Mary Jean Irion:

Oh Normal Day, let me be aware of the treasure you are.
Let me learn from you, love you, savor you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.
Let me hold you while I may, for it will not always be so.
One day, I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taunt, or raise my hands to the sky, and want more than all the world your return.

‘The Station’

Let’s conclude with one of my very favorite works, “The Station,” by Robert Hastings. See what you think:

Tucked away in our subconscious minds is an idyllic vision. We see ourselves on a long, long trip that almost spans the continent. We’re traveling by passenger train, and out the windows we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at a crossing, of cattle grazing on a distant hillside, of smoke pouring from a power plant, of row upon row of corn and wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hills, of biting winter and blazing summer and cavorting spring and docile fall.

But uppermost in our minds is the final destination. On a certain day at a certain hour we will pull into the station. There will be bands playing, and flags waving. And once we get there so many wonderful dreams will come true. So many wishes will be fulfilled and so many pieces of our lives finally will be neatly fitted together like a completed jigsaw puzzle. How restlessly we pace the aisles, damning the minutes for loitering … waiting, waiting, waiting, for the station.

However, sooner or later we must realize there is no one station, no one place to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly outdistances us. ‘When I reach the station that will be it!’ we cry.

Translated it means, “When I win a promotion, that will be it!” ‘When I buy a new Mercedes Benz, that will be it!’ ‘When I put the last kid through college, that will be it!’ ‘When I have paid off the mortgage, that will be it!’ ‘When I reach retirement, I shall live happily ever after!’

Unfortunately, once we get ‘it’, then ‘it’ disappears. The station somehow hides itself at the end of an endless track.

“Relish the moment” is a good motto, especially when coupled with Psalm 118:24: “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

It isn’t the burdens of today that drive us mad. Rather, it is regret over yesterday or fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who rob us of today.

So, stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more and cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. The station will come soon enough.

Jeff Corbett is an experienced public speaker, meeting facilitator and sales and marketing professional. He lives in Statesville. He can be reached at jeff@speak-well.com.