In The Pursuit of Happyness, Christopher Gardner (Will Smith) talks about Thomas Jefferson and his wording of our three basic human rights in the Declaration of Independence; life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  He says, “And I remember thinking how did he know to put the pursuit part in there? That maybe happiness is something that we can only pursue and maybe we can actually never have it.”  Gardner’s concern seems incredibly valid.  Many people will assume that we are given a right to happiness, but as so much of the rest of the nation understands more clearly than they would like, happiness is not an easily obtained emotion.  Who we are as individuals and our identities will influence others and how they live their life.

So if there is no guarantee of happiness on an individual level, did Jefferson mean to write, “As humans, our community is entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as long as there are contributing people living in a collectivist society?”  Sharing, thanking, appreciating and even just smiling have been proven to increase levels of happiness in both the person exhibiting the behavior and the person receiving it.  As a community we are going to have a much better chance of obtaining happiness.  If we can help each other  fix our individual identities and learn to exhibit more accepting or nurturing traits.