Before I went to bed last night, I wanted to watch another less stressful movie. Stressful means movies with suspense, war, mind game... I stumbled upon "Hector and the Search for Happiness". I dunno where and when I got this impression in my head that Hector is a dog movie, so I clicked it. Funny how the movie started with a pilot and his French Bulldog on a yellow biplane. The pilot did a 180 and the dog fell off from its seat. So, my very logical mind thought it's a movie of that dog wandering around the world to search for happiness.
Hector is actually the "pilot", not the dog!!!
Anyway, there is no dog, there is no pilot. That biplane scene was just Hector's dream. Hector is a psychiatrist and he was getting sick of his mundane routined-life. After being confronted by one of his patients and later on losing it at his other patient, he decided to on a journey to search for what are the reasons to make one happy.
So, in his journey, he went from U.K. to China, then Africa, after that L.A. and finally home to his girlfriend. And here are the 15 Lessons of "Happiness" in Hector's journey.
Making comparisons can spoil your happiness.
A lot of people think happiness means being richer or more important.
Many people only see happiness in their future.
Happiness could be the freedom to love more than one woman at the same time.
Sometimes happiness is not knowing the whole story.
Avoiding unhappiness is not the road to happiness.
Does this person bring you predominantly a. up b. down?
Happiness is answering your calling.
Happiness is being loved for who you are.
Sweet Potato Stew!
Fear is an impediment to happiness.
Happiness is feeling completely alive.
Happiness is knowing how to celebrate.
Listening is loving.
Nostalgia is not what it used to be.
I wanna say that I agree with all of them. No. 8 is what struck me most, it had to be in Africa, a lesson he learned from his best friend, Michael who's a doctor in Africa. I once wanted to be paramedic, I wanted to be travel doctor, I wanted to save lives. But my fears for gory stuff and seeing deaths were too great, and not to mention my Chemistry sucked big time. Doubt I can ever make it through the entire Medicine course.
No. 14 though, made me cried the hardest partly 'coz the person who taught him that lesson was dying. Also, his realization of being a psychiatrist that has forgotten this very crucial element while listening called love/loving for his patients. But of course, the actual reason why I cried so much is because I realized I've grown tired listening to some of very very close friends' complains and unhappiness.
In my defense, these "some friends" have done things that I could not comprehend or tolerate. So, I've drifted apart from them. I've been avoiding them. Although these lessons did teach me "Avoiding unhappiness is not the road to happiness", it also taught me "Nostalgia is not what it used to be". I can't deny that I miss how we used to be, but people change, I just gotta learn "Does this person bring you predominantly a. up b. down" harder.
All that aside, I enjoyed the movie even though it's not what I expected it to be. It also brought me closer to God after all these reflections. There was a Buddhist monk in this movie who continually assured Hector, “You hold all the cards (to be happy).” The same monk even points heavenward at the end, telling Hector “We all have an obligation to be happy" because we have been given much to be happy about.
There's nothing religious in this movie but I am just truly glad that I am saved by grace. I will be forever grateful for God's everlasting love.
Thanks Hector the hooman. Now I gotta search for a dog movie to feed my expectation.
