You’re only as happy as your saddest child
April 13, 2008
Just heard this listening to Brian Houston at Hillsong Church on Australian Christian Channel TV today.
I recently had dental surgery and am still recovering so elected to stay home this morning instead of being on duty at church. I watched a number of programs on the TV channel on my laptop so I could sit here in my office which really is one of the most comfortable rooms in my house. Sad, hey? 
Not really - I just love being here in the office, it’s warm (or cool when the weather is hot), comfortable, familiar and I have everything I need around me.
So, anyway, back to Brian Houston’s comment. You’re only as happy as your saddest child. What an interesting comment that is – he’d heard someone else say it and shared it with his audience. Makes you stop and think, doesn’t it?
How happy are your children? And is there anything you can do to improve their state of mind?Whilst our kids are young we have a lot of input in their lives but as they grow older and the external influences increase, our own influence on their lives changes considerably. This can be quite scary - especially if you haven’t put the foundations in, whilst they were young.
Perhaps whilst they are still young we need to concentrate more on helping them have a happy outlook on life which should set a pattern for them as they grow older. Learning to choose to be happy even when surrounding circumstances are out of our control.
Which leaves me to ask you a simple question. How happy are you?
Posted in My Thoughts
May 7th, 2008 at 11:10 am
[...] Thomas presents You’re only as happy as your saddest child posted at The [...]
May 7th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
Important point… having heard Brian speak many a time I can imagine how he empathised it too.
I think as parents it is true if your child is unhappy so are you. We do need to teach them happiness is not ‘things’ and it doesn’t rely on circumstances to be perfect …
“Learning to choose to be happy even when surrounding circumstances are out of our control.”
We can’t make everything right for them but we can get them to see an upside for every situation.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:23 am
Very powerful statement - before I even clicked into your post from Carnival of Australia, the words had already impacted me. Thanks Kathy - this has really spoken to me.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Thanks Meg, I thought so too and thought it important to share.
May 13th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
I heard this quote from a friend a number of years ago and have hung to it dearly. I have one child who is not really himself at the moment and as such I am feeling a little this way as well.
August 17th, 2008 at 12:24 am
Someone told me this many years age when I was a busy mom raising six children. This holds true even more so now, with their ages ranging from 48 years to 25years. It has nothing to do with teaching them how to be happy. It is all about being a mother and wanting to fix your children when they are hurt. I am finding that there are many things that you can not fix. The older they get, the more true this becomes, and the truth hurts a lot.