Life is investment, investment is risk

Every option you face is filled with probability, risk, and uncertainty. Much of the hardship you endure may be for nothing — like unfinished buildings, there are also “unfinished kids.”

When you look at the long arc of time, many things balance out. The suffering you go through might help you later on; the comforts you enjoy now may need to be repaid down the road. And all of this is just possible — it’s still a matter of probability.

The real question is whether you want your son to be a child who is only loved by his father, or one who may not have his father’s affection but will be cared for by everyone he meets wherever he goes. A child loved by his father has food on the table as long as his father is alive; a child without his father’s love, but loved by all those around him, will still have food on the table even after his father is gone.

Your intention may be to let your son go through hardship so that he grows stronger for the future — but there’s also the possibility that he simply won’t make it through.