THE “THREE wishes” is a classic storytelling motif where a magical being (like a genie or a fairy) grants a character three desires. It symbolizes the human desire for limitless power, while the limit of three emphasizes a moral lesson about greed, consequences, and the dangers of poorly thought-out desires.
The Folktale Warning: In traditional stories (such as “The Fisherman and the Jinni” or the Grimm Brothers’ “The Three Wishes”), the three wishes serve as a fable about human folly. Characters often squander their first wishes on foolish, impulsive desires. This usually leads to a negative consequence, requiring them to use their final wish to undo the mess they created.
On a literary level, three wishes align with the traditional three-act structure. The first wish introduces the goal, the second escalates the conflict, and the third provides a resolution or lesson.
Be careful what you wish for — it could reveal who you are, says Laura King of Southern Methodist University.
In a study published in the “Journal of Personality”, King administered a personality test to 405 college students, then asked them a simple question: “If you could have three wishes, what would you ask for?”
Responses ran the gamut, from the obvious (“to be healthy and happy”) to the impossible (“to have sex with Marilyn Monroe”) to the peculiar (“to eat Chinese food at every meal every day for the rest of my life”).
When examining these wishes and the people who made them, King discovered some interesting connections:
The most common wishes were for friends, happiness, health, marriage, money, success, self-improvement, and to help other people.
Although men’s and women’s wishes were generally similar, men were more likely to wish for sex and power, while women were more likely to wish for happiness, a better appearance, and better health.
Extroverted people often wished for happiness and positive feelings, and frequently included other people in their wishes.
Neurotic people wished to be more sociable and more emotionally stable — in other words, to be less neurotic.
“The chances of that wish coming true are practically zero,” says King, noting that personality traits are notoriously hard to change.
Those who were already satisfied with their lives were the most likely to believe that their wishes would come true.
When I was still a young boy, I was taught that there might be fairy creatures offering us those three free wishes. We should always be wise enough to think it over very well and select the best wishes for our very own.
Sure, there will always be classic stupidities regarding fairy-wishes. We are all human beings and don’t belong to the fairy category.
Your wish is my command! And, there is someone who wishes at first a strong health, and – sure, he or she receives it, because good fairies never hesitate. And now and then? Here he is, for example, the healthy man is like a boulder in the surf, but surrounded by a world of war, flames and so-called military conflicts. But this man is still alive and as fit as a fiddler. Why should he wish for a strong health?
Well, maybe we have to formulate our wishes for something more improved. But what? Discretion is the better part of valor. Let’s try it like a fairy-tale and ask for wealth, riches and abundance. These are the one and only things on earth, right?
With money we can travel around the globe, find friends, even in faraway distances, and we can do charities.
Well, and if we might become sick, maybe seriously sick, we must not worry. We can afford and finance the most affordable doctors and most updated hospitals to give us back our good health. And if not?
In many fairy tales, we can also find the one with unassuming manners, inconspicuous, poorly dressed-up, a little bit silly, mostly disregarded and easily to be overlooked. This guy has only one wish, such as eternal salvation and bliss with a little stool in heaven besides God. And guys, be sure, that he will get it, and, he is happy and very thankful. So far so good, it seems the simpleton has been the brightest.
It’s all right: three wishes and no one more. A different thing, isn’t it?
If all human beings on this entire globe could be all around happy – which means to say nobody must go hungry any more, nobody must be despairing, nobody must be worried about wars and catastrophes, and everybody could be able to enjoy health and happiness without bearing trials…yes, if…—then we wouldn’t need fairy-wishes.
Real life looks different. Real life is not a fairy tale. We need prayers and should be more respectful and friendly to each other.
Each one of us has his or her own three wishes. Me, too.
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