Wish-ful Thinking

This week two of my favorite guys have birthdays. My boyfriend’s birthday was yesterday and my brother’s birthday is tomorrow.

All these birthdays have me thinking about the infamous birthday wish. You all know what I am talking about. After the candles are lit and you endure the awkwardness of having your friends and family sing to you it’s time to blow out the candles and make a wish.

Most of us have heard the myths about birthday wishes: You can’t tell anyone your wish or it won’t come true and you have to blow out all the candles at once or you won’t get your wish. I am not extremely superstitious, but I have always considered birthday wishes to hold a lot of weight. It’s a wish you only get to make on your special day once a year during a time signifying another chapter of life with everyone watching. The birthday wish is serious!

I was surprised to learn some people don’t make birthday wishes; they simply blow out the candles. Those people are doing it wrong. What’s the point of blowing out the candles if you don’t make a wish?

Then there are the people who argue they can’t think of a wish. Those people are lying to themselves. You have the entire happy birthday song to think of a good wish.

I also had a few friends tell me instead of making a wish they say a quick prayer and reflect on being thankful for another year. I thought this was a cool twist on the traditional birthday wish.

I want to hear from you. Did you stop making birthday wishes when you were five or do you still make them every year? Do you wish on other things like shooting stars and 11:11 or stick to a strictly no wish policy? Regardless of what you think, one thing is for sure, I will be making a birthday wish when I turn 22 in January!