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Do you wish you were_____?

I am sure most of us - all of us? - are unhappy with something about us - it could be our looks, ethnicity, financial condition, career, just about anything. In view of this, do you ever wish you ever ______?

Fill in the blanks. Just a lighthearted thread where we can explore the gap between what we are and what we want. It is all part of mindfulness.

Comments

  • anandoanando Explorer
    Hello, Living is suffering. So why wondering?
    anando
    wangchuey
  • i wish i was a kind of higher being like a bodhisattva who possess mystical powers and travel whole universe galaxies or a demigod from percy jackson series who go into various adventures :))( sorry i am young adult). because you know sometimes life seems boring and meaningless. and in reality my mortal life purpose is become an astronomer and know the universe and how it works, becoming a buddha is my ultimate purpose :))
    Bunks
  • genkakugenkaku Northampton, Mass. U.S.A. Veteran
    edited January 2014
    Whimsically, I wish I could pass through a single day without wishing. It ain't gonna happen, but a little whimsy never hurt.
  • matthewmartinmatthewmartin Amateur Bodhisattva Suburbs of Mt Meru Veteran
    I wish I was where I am right now, eating lunch and typing a response on the new Buddhist forum. Bam! Hello enlightenment!

    There is a long list of things that I wouldn't turn down if offered, but at the moment, things are good enough.
  • howhow Veteran Veteran
    @beteboy
    What you present as a "light hearted thread" is actually an invitation for others to join you in a hot tub of unnecessary suffering.
    In the very second that you read this, what is a wish but a lack of acceptance for what is true.
    Wishing is just the time you take away from actually being mindful.
    Wishing is a directed holiday from being present for this moment.


    Wishing does occur because we are human and all subject to varying degrees of our own conditioned responses. There is certainly enough phenomena that we mindlessly try to control and suffer accordingly from, to call a mindful effort at wishing to indulge that control, a submerging in sufferings cause.

    When finding oneself immersed in creating a wish, a surprising amount of illumination can occur from just consistently returning to this present moment, to see what that sleep actually is, that the Buddha claimed to have awoken from.
    lobster
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    I often wish people considered really how worthwhile their topic was, and what good purpose it serves, before deciding to while away the time posting pointless questions when there's something so much more constructive they could be doing....

    But hey, that's just me, wishin'.....
  • howhow Veteran Veteran
    edited January 2014
    @federica
    Your wishes alone will not make these posts pointed or pointless any more than it will fix a computer..

    IMO, The differences expressed on what wishes represent in the each ones practice, does make it as worthy as any other posting, irrespective of anyone's personal views of the op's intent or the value of their time spent here.

    It was also labeled by him as lighthearted, even if I didn't see it that way.

  • HamsakaHamsaka goosewhisperer Polishing the 'just so' Veteran
    betaboy said:

    I am sure most of us - all of us? - are unhappy with something about us - it could be our looks, ethnicity, financial condition, career, just about anything. In view of this, do you ever wish you ever ______?

    No.

    That's not to say I have areas I need to get over myself, improve, or more skillful expression. Being 'unhappy' with something about me doesn't therefore lead me to wish I were _______ anymore. It's a waste of time and energy, just goes down the drain. Wishing. Having a goal or end result in mind to prod me toward improvement or release isn't a matter of WISHING.

    The idea is to release the pointless waste of time of wishing the present moment would be different than it is. Instead, get over yourself, your present moment is a matter of past karma and it is what it is. Your opinions of what it could be or should be are a sad waste of your life -- like, the present moment could BE any different than it is!?

    To be honest, I don't *wish* I were a different person in a different life (similar to OP) but sometimes when I'm at work, I *wish* I were at home. This time of year when I'm outside attending to my outdoor critters, I *wish* there weren't so much mud everywhere. I'm starting to see that even these 'harmless' wishes cause me unnecessary suffering. When I'm at work and wish I were home, the present moment is ignored, I'm unhinged from peaceful residence in it.

    Yik_Yis_YiilobsterJeffrey
  • jaejae Veteran
    @betaboy... sometimes I wish I was a fat cat owned by a rich crazy spinster, I could laze around all day getting stroked and fed smoked salmon, sometimes I might even go out and strut around the neighborhood trying to find 'top cat' and his gang... he is so cool ;)
    anatamanJeffreyperson
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran
    edited January 2014
    federica said:

    I often wish people considered really how worthwhile their topic was, and what good purpose it serves, before deciding to while away the time posting pointless questions when there's something so much more constructive they could be doing....

    But hey, that's just me, wishin'.....

    Ouch!! Cop that...
  • federica said:

    I often wish people considered really how worthwhile their topic was, and what good purpose it serves, before deciding to while away the time posting pointless questions when there's something so much more constructive they could be doing....

    But hey, that's just me, wishin'.....

    Wish you'd follow this advice. ;)
    Bunks
  • VastmindVastmind Memphis, TN Veteran
    @betaboy....

    Do you ever wish you were me?
  • I wish I was not me....should I stop?
    lobster
  • rohitrohit Maharrashtra Veteran
    I wish i could be like Rafa, the champion of my field and victories at top.
  • betaboybetaboy Veteran
    edited January 2014
    jae said:

    @betaboy... sometimes I wish I was a fat cat owned by a rich crazy spinster, I could laze around all day getting stroked and fed smoked salmon, sometimes I might even go out and strut around the neighborhood trying to find 'top cat' and his gang... he is so cool ;)

    But you are! You are a fat cat pretending to be Jae, didn't you know?
  • jaejae Veteran
    @betaboy.... maybe I'm the crazy spinster wishing I was the smoked salmon ;)
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    betaboy said:

    federica said:

    I often wish people considered really how worthwhile their topic was, and what good purpose it serves, before deciding to while away the time posting pointless questions when there's something so much more constructive they could be doing....

    But hey, that's just me, wishin'.....

    Wish you'd follow this advice. ;)
    When you do, I will.

    lobsterKundo
  • This is dharma. If we home in on our wishes that unveils the longing in our heart.

    For example if I wish for respect why did I wish that? For many if they follow the trails of their own wishes they ultimately get to bodhicitta which is the wish for self and all others to take refuge in the Buddhas and pass away into enlightenment.

    My teacher teaches 'heart wish' as one of the spokes of her course in spiral learning. A close companion to 'heart wish' is confidence of both the conditional and unconditional nature.

    So trace your mundane wishes back to their source!
  • TheswingisyellowTheswingisyellow Trying to be open to existence Samsara Veteran
    Wish I could quit wishing
  • NevermindNevermind Bitter & Hateful Veteran
    genkaku said:

    Whimsically, I wish I could pass through a single day without wishing. It ain't gonna happen, but a little whimsy never hurt.

    Perhaps you should wish for less whimsy. Or perhaps you should wish for more.
  • NevermindNevermind Bitter & Hateful Veteran
    how said:

    @beteboy
    What you present as a "light hearted thread" is actually an invitation for others to join you in a hot tub of unnecessary suffering.

    I wish How didn't join Beteboy in the hot tube, but it's too late now. :(
    Vastmindhowjae
  • VastmindVastmind Memphis, TN Veteran
    Hot tube...or hot tub? lolololol

    (see the acyrologia thread)
    Bunks
  • I'd rather be in a hot tub than freezing my butt off in this polar vortex weather.
  • VastmindVastmind Memphis, TN Veteran
    Jeffrey said:

    I'd rather be in a hot tub than freezing my butt off in this polar vortex weather.

    You sure know what to say!....You seen on the news how us
    Southerners are dealing with it... hahaha....last snow here...
    it took me 4 hours to get home....

    Sorry Mods...I'm going off topic...no I'm not....We (Jeffrey and I)
    wish we were in Fiji .... :)
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran
    Vastmind said:

    Jeffrey said:

    I'd rather be in a hot tub than freezing my butt off in this polar vortex weather.

    You sure know what to say!....You seen on the news how us
    Southerners are dealing with it... hahaha....last snow here...
    it took me 4 hours to get home....

    Sorry Mods...I'm going off topic...no I'm not....We (Jeffrey and I)
    wish we were in Fiji .... :)
    Give me the polar vortex.......just for a day!!

    http://www.accuweather.com/en/au/melbourne/26216/weather-forecast/26216











    Kundo
  • KundoKundo Sydney, Australia Veteran
    I wish I hadn't read this thread :D
  • I wish I hadn't read this thread :D

    Yeah, me too, lol.
This discussion has been closed.