Even if it is not your birthday and you are not staring down a multitude of flaming candles, wondering whether you have the breath to blow them out, you still can make a wish.

Who among us doesn’t need to generate a little hope and optimism right now? Just visualizing our wish and feeling our wish can reduce some of the stress and anxiety many folks are experiencing these days, according to a few psychology articles I read.

So, I decided to do a little unscientific experiment and ask people what they would wish for if a magic genie appeared before them and said he would grant them one wish, any wish in the world - but just one. Not surprisingly, several friends and family members wished the coronavirus would go away.

My neighbor, Wayne, did not hesitate when I posed the question.

“The end of the coronavirus,” he responded.

Debbie, a longtime friend, texted her message to the genie: “COVID-19 gone!”

My friend Dale, who has not seen her family since March, made a specific virus-related wish.

“I would love to see my daughters and hug my grandkids.”

The families live in New York and Maryland and have not gotten together since the pandemic.

A clerk at the local CVS wished for “a trip.” When I asked where she wanted to go, she said anywhere that is safe from the virus.

Frank, a mason who was working on my house, made a wish for “10 more wishes.” Clever. But when I told him the genie will grant him only one wish, Frank asked for “a more harmonious world.”

Others had similar wishes. Dick, a friend from the Reading area, wished “that the world can get along and live in peace.”

My cousin Patty shared Dick’s dream. She wished for “a world without hatred and war.”

An animal-loving friend, Nancy, would tell the genie, “I wish every week would be Be Kind to Animals Week and everyone would spay and neuter their pets.”

On a more personal level, several individuals expressed the wish for wellness.

My cousin Annie would tell the genie “to give me good health.”

Steve, a friend in Palmerton, wished for “no pain,” as he suffers from a chronically bad shoulder.

Ron, another cousin, wants the genie to “make sure I go to heaven and remain in good health up to the end.”

Two families who lost a child immediately wished to have their son or daughter back again.

Joe, whose son died in his 20s, said his one wish was “to bring Andrew back to us.”

Friends whose daughter, also in her 20s, died in a car accident wished for the same.

I truly wish my imaginary genie had that power. My wish for those families and others mourning losses would be that the genie mend their broken hearts.

In general, if the genie popped out of a bottle in front of me and asked me for my one wish, I would tell him to make sure every creature on earth, both human and animal, has a home and enough food to eat. Simply put, my wish is to end homelessness and hunger throughout the world.

Imagine getting to a place in life where you would decline the genie’s offer and tell him to move on to someone else.

My friend’s 90-year-old mother, when asked what one wish she would ask for, replied, “I really can’t think of anything I would want or need.”

That feeling of inner peace and satisfaction is one I would like to achieve. I hope each of us can reach that tranquil point sometime in our lives where we feel all is right with the world and also within our personal world.

Meanwhile, may all your wishes come true.