Chris Gardner is furious that Mrs. Chu misspelled "happiness" with a 'Y', not an 'I'.
That's probably his motto. That's probably the sign to how he could dig himself out of that pitch black pit he had plunged into. That 'I' is central to real happiness.
That's probably me always reading too much into things. But is that what The Pursuit of Happyness is trying to tell us? I love it when films have this extra layer beneath the obvious truth waiting for the audience to intrepret from their own perspective.
The pursuit of happyness in the line of 'Y' will lead nowhere. The pursuit of happiness in the line of 'I', will.
Questioning 'Y' everything turns out the way they have and lamenting 'Y' is it you who has to go through all this shit will lead nowhere, for there may never be an answer to the 'Y'. Quote Chris Gardner: "When I was young and I'd get an A on a history test or whatever, I get this good feeling about all the things that I could be. And then I never became any of them."
Never once has Chris lamented. Even when he's down and out and $5 meant the world to him, he lent it to Mr. Frohm who had to get to Cal Bank by 4 and he's desperately running late. Now, whose problem is bigger here? But Chris lent Mr. Frohm the money. Which was duly returned the day he appointed Chris to the staff of the brokerage.
It all has to come from within. It all comes from the 'I'. The kindness, the attitude, the drive, the ambition, the passion, the will.
I said to my friend who came from a village in rural Huangshan but is now working at an American MNC in Shanghai after being headhunted from Guangzhou, how much I admired him for coming so far, it must not have been easy, especially with the vast difference in opportunity of any sorts between rural and urban China. He said he's fortunate because there were people willing to help him along the way. But I believe it still has a lot to do with that positive attitude that makes people reciprocate with kindness.
It all has to come from within. If things have not turned out the way you thought they should, be patient and keep working on that kindness, attitude, drive, ambition, passion and will. And if you have it in you, things as you envision it will come someday.
So that is why 'happiness' is spelt with an 'I', and that 'I' is right at the centre of happIness.
