Zairo Q.

Estacio March 14, 2019

ABM 23

The Pursuit of Happyness

I was in a barbershop sitting on a chair right next to another barber chair while the barber
is trimming the sides of my hair with his sharp razor. I remember him telling me this quote, “if
you’re born poor is not your mistake but if you die poor then it is your mistake”. I looked at him in
front of the mirror and nodded my head. He was right, as the conversation continued-there were
exchanging of words and opinions coming from the different sides; I suddenly look back on a
movie I’ve watched two days ago and interconnected it with the conversation.

The movie was about a family who struggles financially, and later become a single-father with
his young son trying to live in different shelters and endure all the hardships that were coming in
their way as the father strives to create a better life for his son.

I never thought that the movie was based on a true story. It was remarkable, insightful, and
completely overwhelming. After I’ve watched the movie, I searched the real-life Chris Gardner on
YouTube and watched an interview with him. As I watched the interview, he corrected that his
real-life son is 40 months old, 3 years old to be exact, and not a five-year-old we’ve seen in the
film. Imagine, the world is against you, what will you do? Well, for most of us, we would’ve given
up, discontinue or quit, and rather just be contented on what we are or what we have and abandon
the things that we are trying to achieve.

This creates a border between successful people and not. People who are not fully committed
to reaching their goals are the ones who will not reap the fruits on the seeds they planted. Chris
Gardner became successful because of his will and commitment to create a better life. I admire
Chris because of how well he managed his life together with his son. He was just a simple man,
trying to become a good father and a husband; he didn’t even know about the stock market before
or any investments that will make him rich one day. He only tried things such as buying multiple
bone density scanners before getting busted and becoming penniless as he thought this scanner
will be a good investment for his family.

I love how Chris Gardner handled his problems like an ideal father, to be specific. A mature,
responsible, and well-assertive man. He chooses to stick with his priorities no matter what
happens, he does not live freely unless his family lives at liberty first, he is like a role-model and
somewhat a leader as he provided the wellness for his family. He even taught me one thing, I
know that this is based on the film itself but had somehow remain in-tact on my mind, and that
“You should never let someone tell you that you can’t do something. Focus on your dream and
go get it.”

This is the story you want to watch if you feel demotivated and you want to get inspired. If you
have a problem and you think you have the worst in this world, you need to reflect and think of it
first and try to watch this movie. Compare your problem to the difficulties that Chris’s had faced
on real life. I mean this is not applicable to all but you may acquire new understanding on what
life really is.

It was by far, the best movie I’ve ever seen!