Are our parents happy or have they just settled?

  Today’s topic came from a thought that crossed my mind: “What if I never achieve the success I dream of?”
And it wasn’t a light question. Because, honestly, if I don’t make it, I think I’ll have very little desire to keep going. I truly don’t want to go through life the way I saw my parents go through it: working constantly, earning poorly, doing the math every day just to survive, counting the coins in their pocket to feed an entire family.
  But let me be clear - this isn’t a criticism or a dismissal of what my parents did. Quite the opposite. I acknowledge, with deep gratitude, that I was born into a much more comfortable reality than the one they were born into. And they’re in a far better situation now than they were 20 years ago. Still, thinking about all of this made me wonder: are they happy?
Because, if once upon a time they had dreams like the ones I have now... then they didn’t get to see those dreams come true. And wouldn’t that be enough to leave them feeling frustrated?
  So I had a conversation with my dad about it. And he said something that stayed with me. He told me that, for him, being rich was never really an option. He grew up in very precarious conditions, in a country with little infrastructure and even less vision for the future, and that shaped the kind of dreams he was allowed to have. He said he used to see men riding bikes or mopeds to work in factories, often in the rain. And so he made a promise to himself: he’d get a job that wasn’t in a factory, and if he ever rode a moped, it would be by choice - not necessity.
And he made that happen.
I was speechless when I heard him. Because not
only did he keep that promise, but he also gave me a life where I had the freedom to dream bigger. In other words, while he was forced to be realistic, I was allowed to be idealistic. He grew up fighting to survive. I grew up fighting for fulfilment. And that says everything about what he (and my mum) managed to achieve.
  It’s strange to think that, for him, what he’s accomplished is already more than he ever dreamed of. And yet, for me, it wouldn’t be enough. But maybe that’s just the natural cycle of generations: each one tries to take the leap the previous one couldn’t. And sometimes we forget to look back and see what was already built before we came along. There are no wrong dreams. There are dreams shaped by circumstances. And when conditions change, so do the dreams. I want more - but I can only want more because someone before me had less.
  The truth is, disappointment comes when our expectations aren’t met. And maybe that’s the key: my dad didn’t have the space to dream too big - so he didn’t have that many disappointments. He knows he did what he set out to do, and that must give him some peace and pride. Of course, I know he’s not 100% fulfilled - there are still things he’d love to do and hasn’t had the chance - but if I manage to get where I want to go, maybe I’ll be able to give back and help him live a little of the dreams he had to postpone.
  I think most people from my generation don’t understand the privilege we have just in being able to dream big.
But that’s a topic for another day.
Today, I leave you with this question:
  Have you ever asked your parents if they’re happy? Or if they just made peace with what was possible?