Simple Truths from the Movie, “The Pursuit of Happyness” June 21, 2009
Posted by Darlene Willman in Movies.add a comment
Will Smith portrayed a man that had strong motivation and a drive to succeed. If you’ve had a chance to watch it, you’ll remember when he started with nothing and found himself spiraling down the rabbit hole until he hit the absolute bottom.
I loved the part where he got in the cab to meet that guy from Dean Witter and took on the challenge of figuring out the “Rubiks Cube.” He knew he could do it and yet the other guy kept saying, “there’s no way”. He believed he could do it, and in less than his cab ride to their destination, solved the puzzle.
When one of his machines was stolen by someone on the street, he called this part of his life “being stupid”. He knew he shouldn’t have left it with a stranger but made the wrong decision to pursue something else.
How many people relate to his life challenges? The terrible relationship he had with his wife, the poor judgement on a business (those silly scanners) dealing with reality and responsibilities. Losing it all and totally hitting rock bottom would most likely put anyone in poverty and living on the streets. The sadest part was watching him cry while he sat on the floor of the men’s room with his son in his arms because they had no place to sleep.
Too many people take their situations for granted and never realize their true potential. We settle for average and as we get older we lose hope for anything more than what we have. They blame it on their past, their lack of skills or anyone else that prevented them from succeeded. Everyone except themselves.
The absolute best part was the video clip I have included in this post when he has a heart to heart talk with his son to not let anyone ever tell him not to pursue his dreams.
“Hey… Don´t ever let somebody tell you, you can´t do something. Not even me… Alright? 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.”
As Thomas Jefferson believed and wrote in our Declaration of Independence, we all have the right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Living Life Like the “Yes, Man!” June 4, 2009
Posted by Darlene Willman in Movies.Tags: Life Lessons, Yes Man
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On Mother’s Day we decided to watch a movie with my mom who is 80 years old called “Yes, Man!” with Jim Carrey. It has to be one of the funniest movies I’ve seen in a long time. We all laughed as we watched how silly he was answering yes to almost any opportunity that presented itself to him.
While we were watching it, I thought about my mother and how she lived her life very modestly with little adventure. She took the safe route of working for someone until she retired. I started thinking of how conservative she really was and how I ended up being the major risk-taker in the family. No one ever took the chance to start their own business, let alone speak in front of hundreds of people like I did.
This movie really opened my eyes to how I’ve been living my life all along. Now, I don’t say YES to everything but I realized I say it more than the average person. I stay open to all possibilities and allow myself to follow opportunities. I’ve discovered that when you say YES! to something instead of NO! you have more excitement and adventure in life. Every day is filled with opportunites and it’s up to us to live a completely fulfilled life!
Go out and rent the movie, you’ll laugh a lot and might start saying YES! more often!
