Perusing a local Tibetan market a young man discovers an ornate bottle.
Curious, he turns to the old man inside the stall and asks, “How much?”
With a worried look, the old man replies, “Oh, sir, you wouldn’t want that.”
“What do you mean?” asks the young man.
“That is a magic bottle, and the genie inside will fulfill all of your wishes, but you might not want that,” says the old man.
Overcome with delight, the young man says, “So with this bottle all my wishes will come true. Of course I want that.”
While carefully wrapping the magic bottle, the old warns him again, “The genie will grant you all of your wishes, but you may wish you had never asked.”
As soon as he gets home, wasting no time, following the old man’s instructions, the young man summons the genie.
To his shock, the genie emerges.
“Master, what wish can I grant you?” proudly states the genie.
“Secure the land and build me a beautiful palace over there on the nearby hills,” requests the young man.
A moment later the genie returns: “It is done Master. What wish can I grant you now?”
“How about a big pile of money?” asks the young man.
Shazam! Right next to him the money appears.
For a week this goes on, until one day the young man has had enough.
All of his wishes have been granted, yet the genie just keeps annoyingly standing there asking, “What wish can I grant you now, Master?”
Even when he wishes the genie to just disappear, moments later he shows up again, nagging at him, “What wish can I grant you now, Master?”
Finally, he goes back to the old man and pleads with him: “I have everything I could wish for, but with the genie constantly nagging at me, I have no time to enjoy what I have. Please, please, old man, what can I do?”
Sometimes you need to take a break from wishing for more to appreciate and enjoy what you already have.
Happy Thanksgiving!