Wishes

It is not good for all our wishes to be filled; through sickness we recognize the value of health; through evil, the value of good; through hunger, the value of food; through exertion, the value of rest.
- Greek Proverb

We all want all our wishes to be filled. We all want a "perfect" life in which there is no hardship and everything happens just as we would want it to. We all want more money because we beleive that having plenty of money will eliminate all the hardships from our lives. We are most jealous of people who seem to go through life having everything going their way.

Yet it is not good for all our wishes to be filled. A life in which everything is provided for us and everything happens just the way we wanted, quickly becomes a dull, boring, meaningless life. Nothing has any value because we know nothing will ever be taken away from us. The things we value most are the things that we don't have yet or that we may not have in the future. The things we value most are the ones we have to work for, and the more effort we have to put forth in order to get them the greater the value we put upon them.

It is the lack of something that makes us realize the value of it. Without the experience of lack, there can be no real appreciation of something, or gratitude for it. It is only the people who have been sick that understand and appreciate the value of being healthy. If we are never hungry then eating food becomes just another ritual we go through. The happiest people are those who have gone without and thus truly appreciate the value of what they have. And happiness leads to success.

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