Well, unfortunately, even the most loving and well-guided childhood can’t guarantee a happy adulthood. An over-disciplined child could end up happy or miserable, or an under-disciplined child could end up happy or miserable. It seems to depend on the sense that the child has, growing up, of whether he is part of a greater whole than himself, or whether he feels alone in the world. But that’s just my own personal opinion. I suppose none of us knows the correct formula for certain. However, a disciplined childhood, if disciplined in the right way, will at least provide the child with the tools to succeed financially or otherwise, whereas an undisciplined childhood might leave the child as so many are now - uneducated and ignorant of why they fail. Poverty when you are single is nothing, but poverty when you are married with children is quite a source of stress. It seems best to provide the child with the tools he’ll need to cope with either situation.
I generally agree with that.
My point was though, I’d rather have my child be a happy adult with moderate achievement than an unhappy adult who achieves great things.
An adult who achieves great things would be wonderful, but not at the cost of being unhappy.
When I speak of happy, I mean generally. We all have ups and downs, setbacks to overcome...