It has been suggested that the best thing a parent can hope for is a better life for their children than theirs. This is why the American dream is so often characterized by economic mobility, and the idea that a person can grow up to be anything they want.
Many of us have benefitted from that idea. My people traveled to the northeast from Ireland on a raft made of empty liquor bottles, and lived in hay amongst the animals they professionally cleaned up after. That was the late 19th century. Less than 150 years later, I am a unique voice in the personal growth industry, heard worldwide and universally recognized as a visionary.
As of this writing, I have zero acknowledged children. While I aspire to spread myself into the next generation, (I contend that) I have not yet done so. On advice of counsel, let me clarify that I have no children. That said, I realize that any potential children of mine, may not have as good a life as I have. Subtracting my early struggles, how could any son or daughter of mine hope to achieve the unique balance of enlightenment and material wealth I’ve accumulated?
Whatever our place in society, it’s not permanent. Individuals and cultures have ups and down. No matter what, some generation of our descendants to come will live worse than we did. This could be due to poor financial planning or a genetic “dud” in the microcosm, or a generalized apocalypse in the macro analysis. Either way, the idea that every generation will better (a little or a lot) than the preceding one is unrealistic.
Taking this into account, I propose the following. We should live for today, and living for today means living for ourselves. We should splurge on the luxury car or vacation home we want, rather than concern ourselves with sending a kindergartner to a fancy private school. Let that child make its own way, and live its adulthood the same way I’m suggesting. People living this way are no more vulnerable to success or failure than those in the old system. The only difference is that we can win or lose by our own merits, and enjoy the fruits of a better life in real time.
If, on some hypothetical day, my son and daughter lack my attention because I’m pushing my speedboat to its limits, all the better for them. They can spend that time pondering how attain their own .25 million dollars to purchase a similar watercraft, or whatever else they desire. And so the road shall travel on, into history.
Such thinking doesn’t make for bad parents, but more realistic ones. We meet our children when we are already grown, and by the time we reach our senior years, they’ve grown, and for all intents and purposes they’ve left us. This period is just a fraction of our lives, and since that is so, they are just temporary acquaintances. I will own my speedboat until I intend otherwise.
Power Words:
In my life, I’m priority #1. My family shouldn’t take it personally, and I refuse to care if they do.
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