Dear "Dumbest Genius"

"My daughter is a successful singer. I give her whatever she wants. Yes, I spoil her: she eats junk food, plays as much on her computer as she wants, sleeps when she’s ready. I know I should be more strict, but why if she’s already successful and happy?"


-LadyRahRah

Hello LadyRahrah,

First, letting her eat as much junk food as she wants, getting too little sleep and sitting in front of a screen all day really just aren’t healthy for your daughter. She may be a success as a singer based upon accolades, competitions, releases, whatever. But, real success is about happiness, too, and not just temporary pleasure from playing a video game or eating a cupcake, but overall happiness.
           
So the true test is can she be happy when she doesn’t get all that she wants? Because if her happiness is based on you fulfilling her desires, then that’s not real happiness. It just feels like it is until that moment wears thin and you are forced to give her something else she wants. If she has to live her life that way, no matter how wonderfully she sings and how many singles she sells or how many hits she gets on YouTube, she won’t be happy deep inside, and she can’t truly be successful without the happiness component.
           
There are countless stories of “successful” athletes and celebrities who thought that buying this item and paying for that service would make them happy, and when it didn’t they turned to drugs to fill the void.
           
​Success isn’t success without happiness, and happiness is more than being pleased for getting what you want. Happiness is not getting what you want, but rather, wanting what you have.


-The Dumbest Genius You'll Ever Meet

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“We were born to be successful, not to fail.”
-Henry David Thoreau