The pursuit of...

Finally watched a movie this weekend that I had been wanting to watch since last December. It is the story of a middle-aged guy, struggling to make both ends meet, struggling to look after his 5-year old son, struggling to keep his marriage working, struggling to make his mark in life - a few of those struggles end in success, a few in failure - but there's one struggle that is never ending, it is... the pursuit of happyness.

There's a moment of realisation of this particular struggle, in the movie when Chris Gardner, the central character enacted by Will Smith, says
"And it was at that time that I thought about Thomas Jefferson writing that Declaration of Independence. Him saying that we have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And I thought about how he knew to put the 'pursuit' in there, like no one can actually have happiness. We can only pursue it."

Aren't we all pursuing happyness? Can any one of us ever claim that we have found happyness for ever and ever?

Obstacles always arise in our path. It is the belief in ourselves and in our dreams that should always be unwavering, so that we can overcome those obstacles.
Chris' 5-year old boy wants to become a good basketball player, when Chris tells him that he can't be that because his dad always sucked at it as a child. Then realising his mistake, he tells his son,
"Don't ever let someone tell you, you can't do something. Not even me. You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can't do something themselves, they wanna tell you that you can't do it. You want something? Go get it. Period."

The saddest moments in life are those when the heart cries silently with no tears in the eyes.
And the happiest moments are those when the heart smiles with no words spoken, and the eyes are filled with tears.

The saddest moment is enacted incredibly well when Will Smith has to spend a night in the restroom of a metro with his son, after they become homeless - he has no money to go anywhere - and he pushes the restroom door with his leg that someone is trying to open, while he holds on to his son sleeping in his arms.
To act well in such a heart-wrenching scene comes naturally to Oscar nominated actors. You dont expect anything less from them in such scenes.

But the scene where Will Smith truly shows his limitless acting potential is when he finally succeeds in achieving his long-held dream, and experiences that rare moment of sublime happyness.
You can see it in his eyes and his whole body language - no words are spoken - he comes out of his office to mingle into the crowd on the street, yet stands apart from the rest of the crowd.
He simply cannot believe he's finally achieved it against all odds, and he wants to share his happyness with the whole world around him. It is what you can call the perfect moment.

What is it that I am in pursuit of? happyness? success? perfect moments?
Will I ever achieve all of them?
All I know is that -
You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can't do something themselves, they wanna tell you that you can't do it. You want something? Go get it. Period.

My pursuit continues...period.