Wishing.

 So there's this Calvin and Hobbes strip that I remembered a couple days ago that goes like this:

Calvin: "If you could have anything in the world right now, what would it be?"
Hobbes: "..Hmm..."
Calvin: "Anything at all! Whatever you want!"
Hobbes: "A sandwich."
Calvin: "A sandwich?!? What kind of stupid wish is that?! Talk about a failure of imagination! I'd ask for a trillion billion dollars, my own space shuttle, and a private continent!"
Hobbes (later, fixing a sandwich): "I got my wish."

The point is, Hobbes is being a realistic person because in the end his wish came true, while Calvin's desires are on a much larger scale. The message that I get out of this is that people generally tend to focus on the big picture instead of the little steps in reaching that goal.  I mean it's good to wish for bigger things, but the more extravagant the situations get, the chances of them becoming reality get slimmer.

In Hobbes' case he wished for a more realistic thing and it came true. I believe that if you set goals for yourself that you know you can accomplish in the short term, it'll set you up for reaching your long term goals. Calvin on the other hand just wishes for things that most likely won't come true and sets himself up for failure.Oftentimes people tend to solely focus on the big goals and don't realize how to achieve them. Like the famous saying goes, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."- Confucius.

It's not just that people wish for big things, but they try to find every opportunity to make these wishes, 11:11, shooting stars, birthdays, etc. For example, if someone wishes for happiness at every chance that they get, the chances are they won't ever be happy. Happiness is not something that can just be obtained instantly, the person has to realize what makes them happy and take little steps towards happiness.