Thursday, January 29, 2009

Why so Serious?!

"It was right then that I started thinking about Thomas Jefferson on the Declaration of Independence and the part about our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And I remember thinking how did he know to put the pursuit part in there? That maybe happiness is something that we can only pursue and maybe we can actually never have it. No matter what. How did he know that?"

- Christopher Gardner, The Pursuit of Happyness

No really, how did he know?

I think Mr. Jefferson meant that as Individuals our natural inclination is to progress and at the moment we stop, we are no longer happy.

It makes perfect sense.

In reality, my life, your life and the life of others is really what WE make of it. I finally finished school in december, and although its been kinda slow because I only work and no longer take classes or go to my internship, I remain happy. Happy because I am always on the go and constantly looking at ways to improve myself and my surroundings. I think if I was doing nothing and sitting around all day I would be miserable, but Im not and Im sure as hell glad. I know I have the tools to make a successful career in whatever I choose, whether it be an L.C.S.W. or Child & Family Law. I just need to commit.

Sometimes bullshit happens to us and we let it continue to affect our lives over and over again, and then we blame those who have wronged us instead of looking at ourselves and taking the responsibility to change our own circumstances. We have more power than we think and in the end, it really is all in the mind.

There was a man who was drowning, and a boat came, and the man on the boat said "Do you need help?" and the man said "God will save me". Then another boat came and he tried to help him, but he said "God will save me", then he drowned and went to Heaven. Then the man told God, "God, why didn't you save me?" and God said "I sent you two boats, you dummy!"

The passage above is another line from The Pursuit of Happyness and it's just grounding because it reminds me to think about all the little things that matter and to not ignore them when they are present whether it be good or bad. There are signs all around us, in every way shape and form. They are kinda like our natural guiders. We just have to look beyond the black and white to see the gray.

1 comment:

DEEDEE said...

1. Great movie
2. "as Individuals our natural inclination is to progress and at the moment we stop, we are no longer happy." -- so true! I feel much happier when I'm working towards a goal, or just doing things that aren't a waste of time.
3. We are all capable of accomplishing so much, but people don't usually believe in themselves or they allow excuses to cover up for their lack of ambition.
4. We are only responsible for our own actions. There's a comfort in knowing that we cannot change things that have happened, because we can use that chance to mobilize a power shift and make things better for ourselvesssss.
5. Oh, hamburgers.