Welcome to living a life of gratitude.
I'm Sarah Wiseman.
The granting of all wishes.
The little town of Independence,
Oregon,
Population 7,
000,
Has a wishing well right off Main Street.
Its civic leaders didn't intend to build a wishing well when the park was first built.
They thought it was just a fountain.
The inhabitants had other plans.
For the first few years,
Officials posted the fountain with signs that said,
Do not toss coins and coins not allowed.
But now they've pretty much given up.
The vortex is too strong.
On a Sunday morning in late March,
The fountain burbles pleasantly,
Coins glistening from the bottom.
It's the kind of day that anything could happen.
A drizzle of spring rain,
A soft easy breeze,
The promise of a spring to come.
I don't have a wish to make today or even a coin to wish upon.
Yet from the corner of my eye,
I spy a dented old penny lying on the sidewalk a few feet from the fountain as if dropped in a hurry or lost amid confusion.
I pick it up,
Close my eyes,
And wish that whoever's wish is on this penny will come true.
I throw the coin in,
Certain that the universe is listening,
And as I watch the coin fall gently in the water,
I feel something in my heart akin to joy.
We are all one,
Interconnected and infinitely intertwined.
Give thanks for the wishes in your life that have been miraculously granted.
Consider the idea that someone,
Somewhere along the line,
Tossed your coin in the fountain.
Now go help someone else's wish along.
Do it anonymously if you like,
Or directly.
Be thankful for all those who have made wishes on your behalf,
And now extend the same to another.
