Try to be a good husband. Try to be a good wife. Try to be a good father. Try to be a good mother. And by doing a good job in those roles, you actually find happiness.
But if you try to directly pursue fulfillment or happiness from your spouse or from your child ... that’s often times a recipe for disaster because no person, be they a spouse or a child can directly provide us with what we think we need.
But instead, when we try to serve our spouse, or serve our child, and do a good job as a husband or wife, father or or mother, it’s often in that service that we’ll find happiness and fulfillment, and that’s ... the paradox ... of both married life and family life.
Bradford Wilcox
Brad's Website
Professor of Sociology, University of Virginia
Listen to the full interview below, and feel free to share your comments.
