Three Wishes

There were three different sets of parents,

each holding their own child,

each granted one wish.

The first said,

“I wish for my child to have success.”

The second said,

“I wish for my child to have happiness.”

The third said,

“I wish for my child to have goodness.”

At first glance, the wishes seem nearly the same.

But they grow into very different lives.

A child raised toward success may learn to strive, achieve, accumulate.

Success often measures itself in titles, wealth, recognition, influence.

It can build impressive structures.

But it does not always nourish the soul.

A life can look full — and still feel empty.

A child raised toward happiness may learn to chase joy, pleasure, comfort, freedom.

Happiness feels warm and immediate.

But happiness alone is often reactive — dependent on circumstances, feelings, desires being met.

A life built only on happiness can drift toward impulsivity, toward comfort without character,

toward gratification without grounding.

But a child raised toward goodness learns something different.

Goodness is slower.

It is quieter.

It is rooted.

Goodness asks,

What is right?

What is true?

What builds rather than consumes?

Goodness does not promise instant happiness.

It does not guarantee visible success.

But over time — across years, across seasons —

goodness has a way of producing both.

Not because they were chased.

But because they were byproducts.

When a person strives to be good —

to act with integrity,

to serve,

to love faithfully,

to endure,

to choose what is right even when it costs —

success becomes meaningful.

Happiness becomes steady.

Both grow naturally in soil that was never chasing them.

The third parent understood something profound:

If you raise a child toward goodness,

you are raising them toward a life that can hold both success and happiness —

without being ruled by either.