Successful, Smart, Good, or Happy?

For many years, Dennis Prager of Prager University has encouraged parents to ask their kids (of any age) this question:

"Which of these do you think we, your parents, most want for you to be: successful, smart, good, or happy?"

As a parent, looking at that list, the one that immediately jumps out at me is "good".  Of course I want the other things for my kids, but far above the those things is my desire that my children grow up to be good people.  Moral people.  People who seek after God and desire to live righteously more than riches, intelligence, success, happiness, etc.

So I asked my four oldest children this question.  There responses were as follows:

Angel (10yo): Successful
Tony (9yo): Successful
Harmony (6yo): Happy, then Good
Charity (5yo): Good, then Happy

This was a good eye opener for me.  I realized through this that I tend to emphasize successful thinking and behavior because I know that so many people find these things elusive and I want my kids to find them easy.  I want them to think like successful people.

On the other hand, goodness is truly more important to me, but I have tended to take it for granted.  This helped me get a new perspective on how I praise my kids and what traits I want to work the hardest to help them develop.

For more on this subject, I would encourage anyone to watch this 5-minute video about it:
Prager University - What Did Your Parents Most Want You to Be?

~Jeremy

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