TASK4 NO.4

Summary of the story (the pursuit of happyees)

In 1981 San Francisco, Chris Gardner (Will Smith) invests his family's savings in portable bone-density scanners which he tries to demonstrate and sell to doctors. The investment proves to be a white elephant, which financially breaks the family and as a result, his girlfriend Linda (Thandie Newton) leaves him and moves to New York. Their son Christopher (Jaden Smith) remains with his father. While downtown trying to sell one of his scanners, Chris meets a manager for Dean Witter and impresses him by solving a Rubik's Cube during a short cab ride. Chris does not have enough money for the cab fare and flees the cab driver into a subway station where he barely escapes the cab driver but loses one of his bone scanners in the process. This new relationship with the Dean Witter manager earns him the chance to become an intern stockbroker.

Despite arriving there unkempt and shabbily dressed due to an emergency, Chris is offered the internship. Chris is further set back when his bank account is garnished by the IRS for unpaid incoming taxes, and he and his young son are evicted. As a result they are homeless, and are forced at one point to stay in a bathroom at a subway station. Motivation drives him to find the Glide Memorial United Methodist Church, which has a homeless shelter primarily for single mothers and their children. The church's owner does not let him stay due to the fact that it is for women and children, although she tells him about a local church that also provides shelter, but has very limited space. Due to demand for the limited rooms, Chris must frantically race from his internship work early each afternoon in order to land a place in line. Chris finds the bone scanner that he lost in the subway station from a demented man who believes it to be a time machine and it is now damaged, but Chris finally repairs it.

Disadvantaged by his limited work hours, and knowing that maximizing his client contacts and profits is the only way to earn the one paid position that he and his 19 competitors are fighting for, Chris develops a number of ways to make phone sales calls more efficiently. He also reaches out to potential high value customers, defying protocol. One sympathetic prospect takes him and his son to a San Francisco 49ers game. Regardless of his challenges, Chris never reveals his lowly circumstances to his co-workers, even going so far as to lend one of his boss five dollars for a cab, a sum he can't afford.

Concluding his internship, Chris is called into a meeting with his managers. His work has paid off and he is offered the position. Fighting back tears, he rushes to his son's daycare, hugging him. They walk down the street, joking with each other and are passed by a man in a business suit (the real Chris Gardner in a cameo). The epilogue reveals that Chris went on to form his own multi-million dollar brokerage firm

My Opinion About (the pursuit of Happyness)

After watching the movie, I was very pleased to find I could also take a great deal away and relate it to my own life. Meyers points out several factors interfereing with achieving happiness. This book has helped me identify the sources of my unhappiness, and given me the ability to better enjoy life. My previous perspectives have been improved. I am sure The Pursuit of Happiness could be an aid for anyone feeling mildly unhappy, or those who are merely curious in understanding the fundamentals behind human happiness. This book discusses everything from age, gender, race, social status, marriage, friends, and religion and their impacts on happiness. There are some bits of information which seem to be common sense. However, it is better to know the truth, then assume something incorrectly.

The meaning happiness

The pursuit of happiness best on based on what Iwatching means your happiness, not the happiness of others. Trying to make others happy and deferring your dreams and goals to them is always a mistake. Your life is just as important as anyone else. You do not have to take the backseat. You do not have to do everything for others. When you have the desire to help others, the best advice is don't do that.The Lord helps those who help themselves is one of the best sayings ever. Meaning, people who just go ahead and do what they want will not need your help.

There are some The lessons best on the pursuit of happiness such as:

1.  Necessity is the mother of invention
People like to be in their comfort zone. We tend to ignore problems until they become too painful to do so. That is why inventions seem so hard to come by. It is also the reason why insurance and saving plans are so hard to sell. People just prefer to ignore them at their own peril. How do we promote

2.  Decision can make your life difficult or very good
Some decisions, like Will's decision to invest in the medical scanner, can make life more difficult than necessary. His decision to jump into stock broking however made his life much better. The point is not to avoid making big decisions in fear of making your life extremely bad, but to make sure that you always have a lifeline. Dumping your savings in something you do not understand is hardly a smart decision.

 3.  Money != Happiness

With an income more than 20K, your happiness level                does not increase with further increases in income. In this study, it is shown that everyone needs a decent standard of living. But once you attain that, happiness is less definable because it varies from everyone. Varied experiences and being in control of your life generally bring experiences. See Maslow hierarchy of needs if you need to know basic stuff have to be fulfilled first. For me, happiness means being in control of my life, having financial security and doing hard and meaningful work.

4.It is hard to climb out of poverty.

In the Documentary 30 Days, they did an experiment where a couple worked on minimum                                  wage for 30 days. Not only did they have no savings at the end of 30 days, they were in the red. It is not surprising that people cannot climb out of poverty. No one would be willing to hire anyone without a home address. You basically drop out of the system and no work=no money= no home.