If you're new here, check out the Best of Balanced Life Center and be sure to subscribe to receive the latest updates via email or RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men.

I love that line from the Declaration of Independence because it embodies possibilities. It reinforces that all is available to me. To think that I live in a country where it is the responsibility of the government to secure these rights. It’s just amazing.

Last week, I saw the movie The Pursuit of Happyness with Will Smith. In fact, I saw it twice, it was that good. The movie is a true story that focuses on a period of about 9 months in which Chris Gardner went from a struggling salesman to an entry-level stockbrocker. During that time, his wife left him with his 5 year old son, he was jailed, his accounts were wiped out to pay taxes and penalties, and he was evicted.

At one point in the movie, Chris ponders why Thomas Jefferson said the pursuit of happiness instead of just happiness. He concludes that happiness may not be something that we can achieve or have, but can only be pursued. Pursue it he did, like a dog with a bone.

I have a different opinion though. I think that happiness is like life and liberty, it’s a persistent state. Maybe the pursuit is in there because we are not endowed with happiness. Instead, we must come to know it. Not as something outside us to be attained, but something to be recognized no matter where we are or what the circumstance.

Spoiler Alert

It’s like the scene in the movie after Chris is evicted from the motel room and he discovers that he can’t sell the last bone density scanner because it’s damaged. He’s sitting in the subway station with his son, Christopher. His son says to him that the guy from the park was wrong because the equipment is not a time machine. Chris says that it is and convinces his son. They imagine that they are in a time long, long ago when dinosaurs roamed. Christopher is in awe. The child is immersed and engaged in the experience. He is happy. The adult, on the other hand, uses the experience to find a place to sleep for the night. He is still very aware of the circumstances that surround him.

Spoiler Alert Complete

Neither is right or wrong, and as adults we all need to be aware of our surroundings. However, the ability to experience joy, and happiness regardless of the appearances is the unalienable right that we have. No one can take it from us. It lies within us.

May you experience in every moment the joy, peace, and happiness that is within you always.

In Spirit,
Nneka