The Pursuit of Happiness

I thought the movie was emotionally exhaustive
but good.

Anyway, struck a chord or two.

In the movie, Will Smith's son tells his father that he is going
to go pro one day on the basketball court,
the kid is 5

and Smith tells him to not waste too much time on it
because Smith himself was never very good, and that it
was likely that his boy wouldn't be as well.

Then Smith realises the magnitude of his words
and tells his son to
"Never let anyone tell you you can't do anything,
even if its me."

But do you ever wonder what happens to the other children
whose dreams are crushed because their parents
don't encourage them?

One callous utterance can make or break a person
change a whole person's life
because someone that matters to them
didn't believe in them.

Most times people aren't even aware when they do it
and they do it out of their own insecurities
passing their regrets and mistakes down another generation.

Dreams are meant to be nurtured; one has to believe in them
and oneself, be prepared to persevere and prepared for failure,
be prepared to end up somewhere totally different
but enjoy and learn from the journey chasing it.

I've always griped about parents and societies where they keep
their children tied to the apron strings
no encouragement to go out and explore, learn something
different than here and now, see things from different points
of view.

I remember when I left, Mom cried, but ultimately
she and Daddy were glad that I was going.
Everyone asked "Aren't they worried about you moving
to a foreign country?Working for a total stranger?Having no friends?"

And I realised it never dawned on me that
they were supposed to be worried.
I asked Daddy, he said
"How else will you learn? If you die, you die lah!"

I for one, wasn't worried for me. I went, things didn't work out at first,
I had no friends to start with, but I worked at it
and have gained some lifelong friendships and experiences.

But thats fate isn't it? Life, you've got to go out and grab it,
not wait for it to come, nor sit and think there's nothing
more to it, when there is a whole universe to explore.

Granted it must be hard to let go, because it means letting go
of your own fears and concerns too,
but you have to
encourage someone to spread their wings, blossom
or they will never find out what their true potential is.

Having faith in a person's ability, no matter how
ludicrous their dream may be
carries so much more weight than we realise.

All it takes is one little nudge, change a person's
future.