"I wish"

I used to say, "I wish ... " quite a bit. I'm learning not to say that.
I have a friend, a very good friend, and we talk to each other a lot, and so she would hear me say, "I wish" a lot. But when she would hear me say that, she wouldn't just be like, "Okay, he wishes that. Cool." She would ask me why I wished it, for which I usually had an answer. What I didn't have an answer for most of the time was when she started speculating on how things would be different if my wish came true.
I bet you that if you think of the last few times that you said, "I wish" and took time to really think that wish through, and be honest, and figure out what would be different today if it came true, you'd decide that things are better the way they are.
Now, let me say that this does not apply to everything. There are certain things that are a little different, like wishing that you had listened to somebody and by so doing avoided a big mistake, or wishing that you had done something when you had the opportunity. But I'm beginning to realize that basically the only things that I should wish about are things that I did. Anything else, it was out of my control, and I don't want to change it.
For example, my friend that I was talking about has a lot of health problems including seizures, tons of allergies, and a lot of other stuff that I don't understand. I said to her once, "I wish that you didn't have to deal with so many health problems." Her response was that her health problems were a part of her, that they've been a part of making her who she is. She wouldn't change her life if she could.
Now, she really doesn't like her health problems. She's told me so. Nobody would like them. But she's accepted that this is the life that God gave her, and she's okay with it. It has made her who she is. I must say that I would never want to change who she is. I love her. She's awesome.
Things that are out of our control are controlled by God. Do we really think that we know better than God? Do we really think that the things we're wishing would make our life better?
As an artist, I've come to think of the entire world and all that happens in it as a piece of art. God is the artist. There are things in this world that are hard, but they're part of the piece of art that God has made. Don't wish that they were different. Those things make His artwork beautiful.

The next time that you start to say, "I wish," stop for a second and think about what you're saying. Consider what the consequences of that wish coming true would be.
I think that you'll start saying, "I wish" a lot less often.

~H-A Forgiven