3 Little Wishes

You know when people celebrating their birthday and are just at the brink of blowing out the candles on their birthday cake? For some reason, everyone expects the birthday boy / girl to make a wish before that. I’ve always wonder why is that. Is it because we somehow expect that if there was any day where your wish might come true, it would be on your birthday. What about a shooting star? People say if you chance upon a shooting star, it’s a good time to make a wish. Does that also mean that if you saw a shooting star on your birthday, your wish is as good as granted?

Well, I honestly don’t remember ever seeing a shooting star ever in my life. But it is my birthday today. So by the power vested in me by the celestial powers of The-Birthday-Boy, here is a 3-in-1 wish I am asking for. 

(If you’re listening God, I hope you’re taking notes)

At this very moment, I know that someone just came home from a day in hospital. Her husband just had a heart failure and she doesn’t know if he’s going to make it. Someone out there is still coming to terms with the death of their mother. Someone is still coming to terms with the death of their father. Someone out there is nursing a broken heart. Someone one there is feeling terrified about leaving home. Someone out there is missing home. I know these people personally... and I wish for them:

Strength

May they find the strength to endure what is to come. May they find within them a reservoir of strength to draw upon when life seems to suck them of all their energy. May they stand strong when the things they cherish, the people they know, the love they found, or the things they have all start falling apart. May they find in themselves strength they never recognized, power they never realized and endurance they never knew. May they know that they are far tougher than they first believe.

Courage

And if and when their strength is at an end, may they have courage; courage to drag their feet out of bed even when it feels so hard; courage to face people; courage to face new challenges; courage to go on in life; courage to pick up the pieces; courage to put one feet in front of the other even when it terrifies you because you honestly don’t know how to continue on. courage to admit that we need help; courage to admit our wrongs; courage to admit we are scared. May courage to live never leave them even as they find themselves at the end of their strength. May fear not be the end their courage, but rather the reason for it.

Hope

And may they keep in their heart, a hope that never dies. A hope for resolution; a hope for peace; a hope for life after death; a hope for a better future; a hope for a safe passage; a hope for a second chance; a hope for something better; a hope for someone better. Just like love, hope is a belief that sometimes makes no sense at all. But just like love, It is also a belief every one of us hold on to without ever letting go. Even if the flames in their heart dim to a flicker, even if life brings them to their knees, even if their hearts have been shattered a million pieces a million times over, may the unbreakable and steely presence of hope hold them together. That though they may lose their life, their loved ones, their love or their home…. they will never lose hope.

Because as much as I wish it… we all eventually run out of strength, our courage eventually fails us.. but hope… Hope does not disappoint us. Especially not when it doesn't come from within but sent from up above.

These are my wishes today as a birthday boy. May God grant them, not to me but to those who need it.

God bless you….