Have You Ever Met True Happiness?

After watching the film The Pursuit of Happyness several times, I began to realize that something was missing from the film. I had so many unanswered questions. At times the film lacks dialogue and depth, and I guess that bothers me; it feels empty and so much is unexplained.

For those of you who have not seen the film, Will Smith portrays a man who raises himself from the abyss of nothingness and total despair to a position of great achievement. The audience patiently observes how this man basically loses everything he has over night and finds himself without money, home or wife. The only thing life allows him to keep is his son. Throughout the film he ferociously fights, pretends, cries and suffers quietly so that his son may live oblivious to the chaos that surrounds them both. One very poignant scene takes place in the bathroom of a train station where both father and son spend countless nights locked up while Chris Gardner studies and works to not only pass his stock broker exam but to prove that he is worthy of a distinguished position within the firm.

Of course, the film has a happy ending and it is the ending that gives me most pleasure as a viewer. After being welcomed into the firm and claiming his long awaited prize, Chris walks down the steps of the building onto the sidewalk and into a barrage of people. He walks in slow motion, in a daze, claps his hands gently with tears in his eyes. He is beyond happy; he is delusional; he is amazed. Months of carrying his personal belongings around from place to place, months of washing himself and his son in a public restroom sink and months of sleepless nights have lead him to that one specific moment of pure and utter happiness. He walks amongst others but for him there are no others; he walks that sidewalk alone, knowing that no one could possibly know what he has suffered or what he has accomplished. He claims this amazing triumph and victory all for himself. He has slain the beast and won. He stands tall, confident and powerful. What could stand in his way now? "Nothing," he whispers to himself. He has no one to tell, no one to celebrate with, except his one and only constant companion and so he runs to his son with overflowing joy. Love has given him the strength...love has made him whole again.

I don't know if every single person out there has ever felt this insurmountable joy before, but I have...twice in my life. The first time occurred when I graduated from college with my bachelor's degree. I felt I had climbed Mount Everest and made it back alive. I was King, :) no Queen of the World, and I could do anything I set my mind to do. The second time I felt such overpowering happiness was when my first son was born and I became a mother for the first time. After trying to have a child for awhile and being unsuccessful, I had begun to accept that it was God's choice. However, the Lord blessed us with a son, and although for awhile we worried about some of his health issues, the Lord blessed us again and made him healthy. The night my son was born I finished a book I had been writing for him since I discovered he was on his way. Reading the last few pages of that book today, I see how I too was in that same delusional state, much like the one Gardner is in as he walks down those steps.

If you have not yet seen The Pursuit of Happyness with Will Smith, please do. However, the film only touches on a minuet portion of this man's story. Therefore, to learn the other 90 percent of the story, I recommend you read Gardner's book also entitled The Pursuit of Happyness. In his own words and stories, I found the why and the how to my questions. To better understand a man's life, his struggles, his weaknesses and his strengths, you must hear it in his voice, see it on his face and live it through his eyes.

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