Something wonderful happened to me. I was transported into the seventh heaven. All the gods sat there in assembly. By special grace I was accorded the favor of a wish.
‘Will you,’ said Mercury, ‘have youth, or beauty, or power, or a long life, or the prettiest girl, or any other of the many splendors we have in our chest of knick-knacks? So choose, but just one thing.’
For a moment I was at a loss. Then I addressed myself to the gods as follows:
‘Esteemed contemporaries, I choose one thing: always to have the laughter on my side.’
Not a single word did one god offer in answer; on the contrary they all began to laugh. From this I concluded that my prayer was fulfilled and that the gods knew how to express themselves with taste, for it would hardly have been fitting gravely to answer, ‘It has been granted to you.’*
So wrote Soren Kierkegaard, a nineteenth-century Danish philosopher and theologian who wasn’t thought of as a man with an everlasting smile. An author doesn’t usually laugh himself silly writing books like The Sickness unto Death.
Still, he offered us the amusing segment above while asking an important question:
What would you choose given one choice of anything in the world?
Laughter would be swell, but it has lots of competition. Consider the fulfillment of these wishes in addition to those Mercury offered:
- World peace.
- A rapid solution to climate change.
- The health and happiness of your children and other loved ones.
- Resilience to take on the world.
- Immortality. (P.S. You might get bored).
You can think of more, I’m sure.
I’d like to know what you might choose or recommend to others from the gods’ “chest of knick-knacks” or any other list.
Once you decide, here’s an even bigger question: What are you doing to fulfill the one wish Kierkegaard’s story would allow you, assuming the ancient gods don’t pop over to your residence and offer it any time soon?
Speaking of decisions and laughter, I discuss how you might enhance your life with Wynne Leon and Vicki Atkinson on their just-dropped podcast, Episode 47: Being Your Own Best Friend With Dr. Gerald Stein – Part II on Anchor.
It is the sequel to Episode 46: Being Your Own Best Friend With Dr. Gerald Stein – Part I.
Our conversation also expands on a few points I made in my blog post, How to Become Your Own Best Friend.
Mercury, Kierkegaard, Stein…all the wisdom, all the laughter, all the food for thought. Yes, please. I’ll need to think about my answer…so many things to wish for. Thank you for the chuckle, too. Immortality breeding boredom. I can see that. Happy Friday and thank you, Dr. Stein! 😊
Well, Vicki, you have put me in the same class as a Greek god. I have never received such a compliment. Of course, he is also a mythological creature. There must be a moral there. I wish I knew what it was! Maybe that should be my wish. Thanks all the same!
You are very welcome…but you know that! Appreciate you mucho…Happy Friday, dear Dr. Stein! 🥰
The first thing that came to mind when I read the title was an end to violence as the means of conflict resolution. I guess that’s another form of wishing for world peace. Having the last laugh never crossed my mind, but would be welcomed 🙂
Well, Rosaliene, then I wish you all the joy and laughter of the mythical gods!
😀
Caro Dottor Stein,
How a wonderful question on a Saturday eve of December, reaching me in my stonehut in the mountains above splendid Lago Maggiore, with just a spoon of snow on the ground and a magic landscape around me I’d like to share with you and your readers!
I would say: LOVE!
Love (and peace) for all human beings, for the world of nature on earth and in the spheres, a love which would grace all these and let them all be strongly in embraced in the protecting, caring, loving arms of of all Gods, not important which ones!
Your choice of “love” couldn’t be more appropriate for this time or any time of the year. You have put it beautifully. Many thanks and much love to you!
I would wish for the whole world to become a peaceful, healthy, happy place.
(Not asking for much, am I?)
You are asking for the world, Mary Ann. And if you can get it, you will be thanked for eternity, but I will thank you for the thought right now!
“Asking for the world” …. well, ya know, dream BIG! 🙂
Marcus Aurelius thought one of the ways to take stock of a person was measure the individual’s ambition. He would have been pleased with you!
… much as Micaela said, but she said it far more eloquently. 🙂
Eloquence is wonderful when we have it, but a good heart is worth even more.
😇
I think I’d wish for every person to not only have healing from all past traumas, but to also then have compassion and caring for one another, even those not like them!
Amen.