In Pursuit of, Happiness

From a single father’s perspective, on how to pursue happiness, translated…

In “The Pursuit of Happiness”, Will Smith played a man who’s wife left, and handed his child over to him to look after.  And yet, he’d not made much as it is, and he’d needed to shoulder the burdens of raising his own young son, as a salesman, his only source income were the 20-pound medical equipment, he’d needed to sell them, to make an earning.  If he couldn’t, the next meal wouldn’t be provided for.  With his son, no money to rent a stay, they’d stayed in the public restrooms, to the point he’d sold off his own blood for money.

As life hits dead end, what sort of a power that’s made us driven, to an alternative, result of life?  Dreams, perhaps, hard working mannerism, and that optimism too.  Even as life is hard right now, he’d tried selling his medical equipment during the daytime, learned at night, started part-timing at a brokerage firm.  He’d gone to multiple job interviews, until finally, he received a chance, to turn his life around, became, a multi-millionaire.

sharing his ten rules for success, off of YouTube

Chris Gardner’s Top 10 Rules For Success (@CEOofHappYness) – YouTube

Those who watched the movie may think, “come on, that’s only in the movies, you think it’s that easy, to turn life around?” and yet, this movie was based off of real people, the C.E.O. of the financial management company of Chris Gardner.  After he divorced, he lived with his young, two-year-old son, they were homeless once, lived at the train stations, stayed in the various shelters.  But, he’d not believed that he will stay down forever, he’d worked hard for himself, as well, as for his own, young son too.

Had he given up on trying, then, his young son would have been, destined for tragedy, Gardner is an African America, a minority in the predominantly white stock brokerage firm, but he’d worked hard studying, and passed his certification into the trading agencies, started as an intern, worked alongside nineteen other interns, and, beaten all his opponents in U.S. a country that discriminates over the skin colors, became a formal employee.  And yet, he wasn’t satisfied just being a formal employee, he’d worked hard, step by step, and eventually, owned his own financial management firm.

Gardner’s story, “The Pursuit of Happiness”, had been translated into twenty-six languages, and was a number one best-seller.  ABC reported on Gardner’s story, the executive producer was moved by his story, and, hoped to make his story into a film, to help move more people.  The movie came out in 2006, starring Will Smith, was nominated for the Oscars, and there are, about ten billion people in the world who’d seen this film.

Everybody HAS the pursuit of happiness, even single fathers too.  With a child, it’s even, harder, but, don’t think it’s much easier in the dual-income households, how many families with both parents are there, unhappy in the world right now.  And, thinking hard on the reason why we’re, not happy, maybe, it’s because we hadn’t worked hard enough, we’re not optimistic enough, that we hadn’t, persisted enough.  In his pursuit of happiness, Gardner believed, that “so long as I walk forward with bravery, all my defeats will be turned into what made me successful in the end.”

And yet, even if we’d given everything, persisted, it doesn’t mean that we’ll all be as lucky as Gardner, but we can keep our optimism, to accompany our beloved children.  For our young, and for our own lives, we shall, keep on, working hard.

And so, this is on how hard it is, to raise up your children up as a single parent, but, as the example of Chris Gardner showed, if we persisted in our beliefs of working hard toward that goal of whatever it is we are pursuing, we will one day, make it!