The most precious gift that parents can give....their own HAPPINESS




The most precious gift that parents can give....their own HAPPINESS

One particular point about modern day parenting has particularly bothered me - the incessant desire to provide for the children even at the cost of this own happiness.  Something about this 'sacrifice' grated with me.  Sometimes I feel that I am not self-less enough as I looked around. My gut tells me that it is my duty to provide adequately, but the biggest gift my wife and I can give our daughter is our own happiness. In a great scene from the "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" Paul Newman and  his father 'Big Daddy' have a powerful moment when they actually discover this in the midst of a long standing and simmering fight between them 

 This morning, when I came across this lovely quote from the legendary Thich Nhat Hanh, it felt good. 

 "If our parents didn’t love and understand each other, how are we to know what love looks like? … The most precious inheritance that parents can give their children is their own happiness. Our parents may be able to leave us money, houses, and land, but they may not be happy people. If we have happy parents, we have received the richest inheritance of all."

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