The Pursuit of Happyness

One of my favourite movies is, “The Pursuit of Happyness”

Yes, the title is actually spelt that way and it comes from a mural that the Director of the movie,  Gabriele Muccino saw outside his son’s day-care.

The movie stars Will Smith and his real-life son Jaden and is inspired by the actual life events of Chris Gardner and his battle with homeliness. Chris has gone on to become a Motivational Speaker and Businessman in his own right.

It’s a wonderful story of a homeless salesman and his struggles to make something of himself and to provide for his son’s life. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it.

Happiness Is The Goal

Cartoonist and author. Kin Hubbard said, ‘It is pretty hard to find what does bring happiness; poverty and wealth have both failed.’

If you ask anyone in life what their real goal is they will generally say ‘to be happy’.

Happiness is not a place but is part of the journey. You don’t just one day arrive at happiness.

We all know of the rich and famous person who,  to the outside world had a wonderful life,  but who tragically cut short their own life.

Some people think they can find happiness in money. I can assure you that money doesn’t necessarily buy you happiness but, then again, poverty buys you nothing.

So, this is not to downplay money. I believe that money can make you a lot happier than poverty. It can certainly give you way more options in life and it can open up new opportunities. Money in itself will not make you happy. Money just intensifies the person.  

We all have to understand that happiness doesn’t come from external factors or from any other person: it comes from ourselves. If you are the type of person that relies on other people to be happy, you are never going to be completely happy.

If you are going to have to find a career to be happy, you are never going to be happy, because happiness should be an outflow of what you already are.

It was Doris Mortman who said, ‘Until you make peace with who you are, you will never be content with what you have.’

The Success Happiness Equation

Success is different to all of us. To some it’s the New York apartment, waterfront in Miami, living in Dubai or Cayman Islands. To others, it’s a log cabin on the lake or a modest home in the mountains. It’s being able to look after grandchildren or foster children or devoting your life to a worthy cause.

Success can bring you a form of happiness, but the reality of happiness must already be there, latent within you. My dictionary defines success as a favourable result, a wished for ending’.

Many people associate happiness with the ultimate wished-for ending in life – the fairytale cliché ‘and they lived happily ever after’. But I believe happiness is the result of daily choices and decisions.

To others, it may mean achieving a certain or set of goals. But understand that true happiness come from inside you; it is not based on externals. Happiness is not necessarily going to be based on what you have and what you don’t have.

You can be poor and happy, or poor and miserable. You can be rich and happy, or rich and miserable. Understand that happiness is about what we are and what we desire to become and finding fulfilment in that.

Passion & Growth Equals Happiness

Show me a man or woman without passion, without business or career, without a sense of accomplishment, and I will show you a miserable person. But conversely show me someone with a passion for life, with a cause, who is actively pursuing that cause, and I will show you a happy person with a zest for life.

A Wise Man Once Said

I remember the tale of the wise man sitting on the side of the road and a traveller approached him. The traveller asks the wise man,

“I am travelling to the next town, can you tell me what it is like”

The wise man answers with a question. “What is the town like where you have come from?”

The traveller answers, “It is a horrible town, full of horrible people”

The wise man answers, “I suppose you will find the next town to be very much the same” The traveller then sets off on his journey.

A few hours pass and another traveller arrives and greets the wise man with a smile and asks,

“Dear sir, I am travelling to the next town, can you tell me what it is like?”

The wise man asks. “What is the town you have come from like?”

The traveller answers, “It was a fine town with great people, but I am looking for more opportunities and to expand and grow”

The wise man answers, “You will find the nest town to be very similar to the one you have come from”.

Remember, if you have to move more than two feet from where you are to be happy, then you will never be happy. Decide today if you are willing to change on the inside in order to experience happiness. Decide today to accept that happiness is up to you alone.

Life life.

-David