Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it Proverbs 22:6
I was speaking to a client recently about child rearing. She and her partner have disagreements on how to discipline their children. He is much more lax in response to their children’s routines and behaviors. She wants a firmer hand in their lives as she sees that they are not learning responsible behaviors.
We discussed the fact that our job is not to make our children happy. It is to make them responsible. When they learn responsibility, happiness can follow. Certainly, we want our children to be happy, yet temporary happiness can merely be the result of immediate gratification. Long term satisfaction comes from a life of good disciplines and responsible behavior that sets kids up for success as adults.
I told the client that counseling is much the same way. The goal of counseling is not to make people happy. The goal of counseling is to help make people responsible- recognizing agency over their own thoughts, feeling and behaviors. When we take ownership of those things we become more responsible, which leads to real happiness.
Prayer: Lord, help us to live into the full happiness that you would have for us, Amen
Reflections of a Counselor 