Here in the Walter household, a decrease in the amount of “things to do” means an increase in working on projects, including having Anson’s sports vehicles spruced up. 

His dirt bike got new handlebars and a fresh battery.

His four-wheeler is getting a new gas tank.

Anson has been so excited about his racing material. But he has apparently been trained in the world of instant gratification, meaning he doesn’t understand that not all the things will be available ASAP.

He’s been doing a LOT of wishing.

“Mama, I wish my new gas tank was here.”
“I wish I could go drive my four-wheeler in the mountains.”

His cousin is also going to be here soon, and he can’t stop wishing that SOON was now.

It has kind of gotten on my nerves. Here why: Wishing sounds an awful lot like WHINING.

In fairness, I think part of the issue is that what we are wishing for seems out of our control.

Anson doesn’t control when the new gas tank comes for his four wheeler. So he WISHES it were here. 

Anson can’t drive himself to the woods to drive his new four-wheeler around.

Anson can’t speed up time and have it be when his cousin is going to visit.

The definition for “Wish” – verb is this:

feel or express a strong desire or hope for something that is not easily attainable; want something that cannot or probably will not happen.

The questions I’ve started to ask back to Anson are: Why can’t it happen?

Why isn’t it likely to happen?

What about this wish is something that you CAN impact and control?

If he can sort through some of the answers with me, I find there is usually something we DO control hidden under the seemingly unattainable problem. And then, we can take action.

What would happen if we had the self-awareness to do the same thing with our wishes?

In the last episode I made the commitment to take action whenever I’m about to whine. Today’s episode makes it practical. Here’s what you do when you are about to turn a wish into a whine.