You may have heard Forrest Church as he makes the talk show rounds promoting his upcoming book Love and Death. He talks about thoughtful wishes, which are different from wishful thinking. Thoughtful wishes are intentional aspirations that are - while a stretch - within our means if we stay grounded in the present.
I particularly like his mantra, embedded in a Christmas prayer at the end of the book:
Want what we have,
Do what you can,
Be who we are.
As I discover how to transform my own wishful thinking to thoughtful wishes about a career shift into the arts, this mantra grounds me to focus only on the things I know today. And while "wishes" imply a longing for some future state, there's much good now that's surpassed my wishful thinking of a few short years ago.
You can listen to the entire piece here (fast-forward to 49:38, but the whole interview is nice too):