Play The Wishing Game?

Cool story, Evelyn! To know contentment in life is one of life’s greatest joys. I don’t know what the lesson is, except that when we don’t know what we want, we want everything thinking one of those MUST bring happiness. When we know what we want, we don’t need anything else.

Hi Evelyn,

Ah, being content. To me, that says we are happy where we’re at. The question I have – can we become too content? In that we’re not challenging ourselves? Part of it is perspective in how you look at contentment. Maybe being content is being okay with how everything is at this moment – knowing that you may make changes – and you’re okay with that too. I think I’m answering my own question here – so being content can mean to me, being okay with where I’m at in my life – whatever that happens to mean at the time….

Nice twist at the end Evelyn, I really enjoyed that story. The message ties in closely to one that I’ve been trying to spread myself.

Thanks for sharing!

Cheers,
Glen

Being content sounds blissful but I think I’d miss the chase. Is it possible to simply be content with following dreams? The wish from the forth child stirs up my passion to live life as an adventure. The wish from the fifth child stirs up my passion to be still in the moment. I’m suppose I love the balance of both wishes.

I’m willing to take a stab at it. Why do we want anything? Whether it’s a hamburger or a billion dollars, it’s to feel content and happy. However, when you are wishing for an external thing, those moments are fleeting. If you are content all the time, you can be happy without external factors.

– Dave

Hi Evelyn. I’m content with not guessing 🙂 I very much enjoyed reading this and I too thought the 4th child was wise and brilliant. But then came the 5th child… and I rested. Thanks for a thought-provoking post… well… actually a thoughtfully resting piece (for me anyway).

Good story.

I think #5 didn’t need a wish. They just needed to practice an attitude of gratitude (assuming their basic needs are met.)

I like #4’s style. Life’s not static and needs change. It would be nice to have a set of wishes on hand to deal with unmet needs for you, friends, and family. I don’t think I’d spend wishes on wants though.

I’m more like #4. I guess the lesson is, acceptance of where you are can make you happier than wishing.

Hi Evelyn! Thanks for the thought-provoking story!

What I’m getting from it is that #4 is like the Law of Infinite Abundance…we can all have everything we want, however the question is whenever a wish comes true, are we happy and fulfilled? If not, we are forever seeking for the fulfillment/contentment that eludes us…and we may still have the same feeling as if the wish weren’t granted. I’m with @J.D. Meier, gratitude can help a person feel more content.

#5 is something about being happy and content with what you have…no matter what you receive. Because even though we can attract anything using the Law of Attraction, what’s the point if we aren’t happy with what we attracted?

I would like a happy balance of both #4 and #5. I like what Joe Vitale says, “I am satisfied with what I have, I just want more!” Yippeeeee

Great Story- we all need a reminder to be happy with our lives in the present. My friend Tim says Peace should be everyone’s #1 value because if you have peace of mind, everything seems to always be fine. Something goes wrong- it just a result. In addition, you are always happy right where you stand! Thanks Evelyn!

I think as a child I would have wanted more wishes and I did often ask for more wishes when given an opportunity.

I think at this point in my life, I am just so pleased and grateful for where I am at and for what I have been given that I am busy cleaning out the clutter of things that were not on my wish list but accumulated along my journey.

I still have a few things that I want to accomplish, but I am happy at where I am at.

I love these clever and questioning stories – I love to think about them and the message they impart

I was just wondering, if the fifth child was really such a child to be able to give that answer! 🙂 If I were that child, I’d have wished that I be given the power to make all my wishes come true

I haven’t reached contentment yet. I wonder if I ever will. The 4th child is smart, but his wish makes me sad because I know he will never be satisfied. Regardless of how much he has, he will always want more.

Love that story. I waver between the 4th and 5th child. I think the lesson here lies in why the 4th child wants the McDonalds chain, billion dollars, endless wishes etc. He wants them because he thinks that will mean a lifetime of ease and happiness. We only wish for things we want to make our life better. But the 5th child wishes for a life where he knows contentment, ease and happiness with his life. He’s skipped to the point of life and that is the lesson.

Peace. Happiness. Ease. Contentment. It’s within reach all the time; we just have to see it. But believing this and living it are not the same thing. that’s where I’m at. 🙂

What about you, Evelyn?
Kelly

When you stop trying to succeed every goal,realizing that this is an infinite incomplete process. Once you reach a goal, the mind thinks of another goal to achieve. You will always be incomplete because there is no finish line to that of goals.

To be content, realizes that one needs nothing to feel happy, no goals have to be achieved in order to be happy. You may be happy for a split second before the next goal reveals itself to your mind but you will never be content this what is here and now.

Evelyn,

I loved this story! For me, the lesson is that if you are wishing for THINGS to make you happy, you will never find it. I think the fifth child’s wish for inner contentment says that what we have inside us is what makes us truly wealthy.

Hi Evelyn,

I just love all of the stories that you come up with on your blog. Before I read the 4th or 5th child’s answer, I was already thinking to myself that I would wish for more wishes. I’m pretty content so I don’t need them, but I would just want more for the sake of having them.

A McDonalds burger sounds good too. Somehow I think that child #1 will be in the best physical shape in the end because the others would be too busy over eating.

This really is a thought-provoking post. What will make us happy is inside us all along.

I like to thnk I’m mostly Child #5, mixed with Child # 2.

Plus I’m hungry right now, so thanks for whetting my appetite even further!

Knowing what you truelly want is most of this battle.
I wish to be furfilled, which is a wish of continueing action. I want power to do the actions I decide on. I’m not sure it can be considered the same as contented. That could mean being happy with what you have, or don’t have already. It sounds boring to me!
Alot of excellent points made by readers here- btw- hopped from Jannie comentz

Well I think they are both good! It’s a paradox maybe that we can be content with what we have, yet yearn to be elevated to be in the highest state we can be – which to me would include being able to manifest things in the material world (in a way where we are not afraid of losing them, of course!)

You give us some good stories, Evelyn!

Hi Evelyn – What an awesome story. It sounds like the fourth kid thought that you always need more to be happy but the fifth realised that more stuff doesn’t necessarily equal happiness.

Great lesson Evelyn; thanks for reminding me that the best wish of all is to be content with who you are and what you have. When I do this, everything else seems to take care of itself.

This is a fun exercise..
I loved ready everyone’s responses.
I’d say I too look at complete contentment as maybe not energetic enough for me. I magine if the world would not quit until every person was fed and health care needs were met. and poverty was ended. Though there is a beautiful saying during yoga peaceful yet energized. It makes me think of some of the greatest minds/achievements of mankind if they were content they may not of continued there pursuits. To get up enthusiastic and to know/seek and achieve a personal purpose through out ones lifetime makes for more reflective look back on a life well lived. I think discontentment is often a positive movement for many on this planet. Yes there are moments of contentment in them but it is rising and doing that achieves this.

The difference between the 4th and 5th wishes is this: the 4th child, just like the others before him was looking outside himself for joy. The 5th wish fwas for inner joy that would never be dependent on outside circumstances, people and things.

As a child I’m sure I would have wished for #3 and #4. As an adult I wish for #5.

Hi Evelyn,
Like Robin, I hover between 4 and 5 knowing that when i am at 5 I will have attained total self love and acceptance

Thanks for making me think

@Evelyn, That’s a good point you make about Joe Vitale’s saying…it’s actually an affirmation on his subconscious mind clearing audio. Do you think it’s possible to “be content” and also “want more”?

Cute post! Thanks for sharing Evelyn, I will be back again soon.

Hi Evelyn,

I think there need to be a balance of being contented and having more wishes.

While being contented is good, having more wishes (goals) mean you have something to strive for, which is necessary in order to lead a more fulfilling life. Can you imagine a life without wishes (goals)?

Besides, if we all have no more wishes, the world will grind to a halt and stop progressing.

We should be grateful for what we already have, yet at the same time, set goals to achieve more so as to keep moving forward.

Just my two cents worth of thought.

Cheers~

Mark

I don’t know if I could be like the fifth child, although it sounds like the secret to happiness 🙂

The fourth child was being ingenious. I think it could be a positive if some of his wishes were turned outward, to benefit other people.

Fantastic Story,

The purpose of life is joyous;
The result of life is expansion.

Make a wish (expansion) and enjoy the journey towards the wish.

Hi Evelyn,

Finally I was able to read you post! Wow, thank you so much for the thought provoking story. It really makes me think and look at my own life differently; What do I really want and is it getting me to “were” I want to be? Everyones post was a delight as well, many, but well worth reading. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you. =)

With Love & Light,

Mary Madeline

Isn’t wanting to achieve your goals “wanting more”?
I think there is a difference between “needing” and “wanting”…
When I say I “need” to have something in my life (beyond basic human survival) it usually comes from a place of attachment to having a “wish” fulfilled.
“I am completely satisfied, I just want more!” Can anyone else sense the freedom in that statement? Well, maybe just me then 😀