24 Postulates to Build a "Children of Nature" Culture

 24 Postulates to Build a "Children of Nature" Culture

Our children will clean the land, water and air which we the generation before littered. They will heal the earth we defaced, damage. With generation gap closed, the task will be shared by all.

Dr Abe V Rotor

  Young biologist studies a specimen. Children plant trees and vegetables. 

 Author conducts summer painting workshop for kids.

1. Our children need to know the true meaning of biodiversity. Four attributes - richness in kind, population, interrelationship, ecosystem area.

Biodiversity per se does not guarantee sustainability unless integrated with functioning systems of nature.

2. Our children’s development must be holistic In all four stages: genetic, childhood, lifestyle – and fetal (in the womb). Sing, talk to your baby while in the womb.

3. Our children are at the front line and center of people’s revolution spreading worldwide.

Arab Spring is still sweeping over North Africa and the Middle East, The Syrian crisis has escalated and drawn US, Russia and other countries into the conflict, while terrorism has spread into global proportion, which covers our own Mindanao, amid threat of a nuclear war spawned by North Korea. In the US mass demonstrations are denouncing the present leadership. 

4. Our children become new heroes – heroes for the environment, martyrs for Mother Earth. Heaven is in a regained Paradise on earth.

The coming of a universal faith, irrespective of denomination is becoming a popular idea. To many, to be saved is not by faith and promise. Heaven starts here on earth.

5. Let’s prepare our children to face the consequences of loss of privacy and secrecy, from personal to institutional transparency.

Janitor fish - subject of kids' curiosity, an introduction to biology.  

“You can no longer hide. There is no place you can remain with anonymity.” Wikileak unveiled classified information about the Iraq and Afghanistan war. Bank secrecy laws and safeguards are changing. Citizens have the right to know many hidden financial transactions.

6. Our children’s involvement in social media makes them actors and not mere spectators. They become involved, concerned with issues, local and far reaching.

There is need to strengthen Development Communication (DevComm) over conventional entertainment and reactionary media.

7. Our children will inherit our aging infrastructure. Aging Infrastructure pulls down the economy, increases risk to disaster, creates ghost cities and making life miserable.

A new field of biodiversity has been born in deserted towns, on the 38th Parallel between South and North Korea, in land mines areas, ghost towns, among deserted high rise buildings, in high radiation areas like in Chernobyl (Russia) Three-mile Island (US) and Fukushima (Japan).

8. Our children are deprived of natural beauty and bounty with shrinking wildlife, conversion of farms and pastures to settlements, and destruction of ecosystems.

“Canned Nature” (delata) has become pseudo Nature Centers. Gubat sa Siyudad, Fantasyland, Ocean Park, Disneyland

9. Our children, and succeeding generations are becoming more and more vulnerable to various infirmities – genetic, physiological, psychological, pathologic.

Computer Syndrome is now pandemic, and its toll is increasing worldwide. South Korea is the worst hit. The Philippines is not far behind.

10. Our children’s learning through codification defeats logical thinking and creativity. Thus affect their reasoning power, judgment and decision, originality of thought and ideas.

More and more children are computer-dependent. They find simple equations and definitions difficult without electronic gadget.

11. Our children face the age of singularity whereby human and artificial intelligence are integrated. Robotics robs human of his rights and freedom – new realm of curtailment and suppression. (2045 – The Year Man Becomes Immortal – Time Magazine). This is falsehood!

 On-the-spot painting; wall mural painting 

12. Our children finds a world of archives - memories, reproductions, replicas – of a real world lost before their own time.

We are making fossils, biographies, dirges and lament, as if without any sense of guilt.

13. Our children will realize that optimism will remain the mainstay of human evolution, rising above difficulties and trials. Hope is ingrained in the human brain that makes vision rosier than reality.

Anxiety, depression will continue to haunt, in fact accompany progress, but these all the more push optimism up and ahead.

14. Our children are overburdened by education. They need freedom to learn in their own sweet time and enjoy the bliss and adventure of childhood and adolescence.

E-learning is taking over much of the role of schools and universities. Open Universities, Distance Learning will dwarf classroom instruction, the beginning of a new University of Plato’s dream.

15. Our children will witness in their time the beginning of a post-capitalism order, environmental revolution, rise of growth centers and shift in economic dominance and order, more green technologies, and space exploration.

This is Renaissance in in the new age.

16. Our children will continue looking for the missing links of science, history, religion, astronomy etc, among them the source of life itself and its link with the physical world.

Linking of disciplines, narrowing down the gaps of specializations, making of a new Man and culture.

17. Our children become more and more transient in domicile where work may require, and for personal reasons, and when given choice and opportunity in a global perspective, intermarriages notwithstanding.

“Citizen of the world” is a person without a specific country. He is therefore, rootless.

Humans since creation are rooted politically, culturally – and principally biologically.

18. Our children will have a family size of ideally 2 or 3 children, enabling them to achieve their goals and dreams in life. They will strengthen the middle class the prime mover of society.

A natural way of family planning and population planning, trend of industrialized countries.

19. Our children will clean the land, water and air we the generation before littered. They will heal the earth we defaced, damage. With generation gap closed, the task will be shared by all.

We must be good housekeepers of Mother Earth now.

20. Our children will be part of devolution of power, decentralization of authority, a new breed of more dedicated leaders.

Natural History exhibit at the former St Paul University Museum QC

Children hold the key to change. It’s the Little Prince that changed and saved the pilot in an ill-fated plane crash in the Sahara Desert.

21. Our children face acculturation and inter racial marriages. Melange of races is on the rise – Eurasian, Afro-American, Afro-Asian, etc – a homogenization process that reduces as a consequence natural gene pools.

Culturally and scientifically, this is dangerous. Homogenization leads to extinction of races and ultimately the species.

22. Our children will live simpler lives, going back to basics, preferring natural over artificial goods and services. In the long run they will be less wasteful that us.

There is always a hidden desire to escape when things get rough. This is instinct for survival either by detour or turning back.

23. Our children face the coming of the Horsemen of Apocalypse – consequence of human folly and frailty (nuclear, pollution, poverty). More than we grownups, they are more resilient to adapt to the test.

History tells us that this is true.

24. Postmodernism may do more harm than good for our children in a runaway technology and culture. They cannot and will not be able to keep with the pace and direction of change.

This is not true. “I am the master of my fate, I’m the captain of my soul.” (From Invictus, by William Ernest Henley).  And this is what we want our children to become – but only when they are CHILDREN OF NATURE.

Self-Administered Test Reviving the “Handyman” or “Do-it-Yourself” Culture

  Self-Administered Test 

Reviving the “Handyman” 

or “Do-it-Yourself” Culture

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature - School on Air

True or False

1. First, plan your work, then work your plan - not vice versa.

Buy at source fruits in season for processing such as jelly, jam, pickles, and the like.

2. Standard voltage in the Philippines is 110V; in the USA, it is double – 220V. That is why US appliances need step down transformer when using it here.

3. Here is a simple declogging solvent for the drain which you can prepare: dissolve in a liter of water 2 tbsp water kerosene (gaas) + and 2 tbsp powdered soap.

4. The practical way to determine exact levels in construction is to use plumb bob for vertical level (patindig) and transparent hose filled with water for horizontal level (pahanay).                           

5. Riveted GI roofing is more reliable – stronger and last longer – than when nail is used.

6. Garden hose last longer if it is allowed to remain attached to the faucet, than to drain and coil it after use.

7. A crocodile jack is easier and safer to use than ordinary hydraulic jack. And be sure to have a supplemental jack as precaution to accident.

8. There are fixtures and assembly parts of appliances that can be replaced with new ones rather than to have them repaired - such as LPG regulator, Automatic Voltage Regulator, fire extinguisher, water filters, electric fans after guarantee period.

9. Buy only reliable brands of tools, and if your budget allows, invest in lifetime tools such as Rigid, Stanley, Makita, Black and Decker, Bosch, Coleman, Crossman, Dremel, Sandvik, El Toro, to name a few of the internationally known brands. Be sure these are not imitations.

10. Home for the Golden Years must be kept as simple as possible, orderly, clean and healthy, Remove things that may cause accidents.

11. It is easier to maintain a home with children than a typical home, especially if the children all go to school and you have all the time to fix everything from bedroom to sala to garden.

12. Inhaling fresh paint could be as harmful to health as inhaling exfoliating old paint.

13. Refurnish your kitchen with new utensils? Dispose old China with fading gold rims, don’t use plastic containers for vinegar and carbonated drinks, aluminum and Cadmium coated pots and pans for acidic food, and if possible avoid if you can using microwave oven. Ordinary oven is healthier, and food is tastier, too.

14. Coconut oil + kerosene (gaas) in equal proportion makes a good substitute for sewing oil, and lubricating oil for hinges, locks, screws and bolts.

15. Hammer is to the worker as scythe is to the farmer – two symbols representing the grassroots, which the old communist regime used as logo.

16. When installing an air-conditioning unit, be sure it is one or two feet from the floor for efficiency and power economy.

17. Experts select crosscut saw (ordinary saw) by making it sing, so to speak – it produces a clear echoing sound like a tuning fork. Hammer struck on stone likewise sends a brilliant tuning fork sound.

18. It is all right to dispose off catalogues and instructions of tools and machine after you have mastered in using them.

19. It is always good to work alone especially if you are handling dangerous machines and tools so as not to harm others – or you might get distracted in your work.

20. Use loose clothing, such as long sleeves, when operating machine to ward off dirt and as added protected – not to mention as part of good grooming.

21. Accurate measurements in construction are actually in the details of the work. The framework like posts and beams are usually set within certain approximation or range.

22 - 25. Name four safety and emergency equipment, tools and provisions in the work shop.

Organic fertilizer through composting of kitchen and garden waste

ANSWERS: 1t, 2f, 3f, 4t, 5,t, 6f, 7t, 8t, 9t, 10t 11f, 12t, 13t, 14t, 15t, 16f, 17t, 18f, 19f, 20f, 21f, 22-25 (In any order, choose 4 only; you can add to the list): first aid kit, fire extinguisher, insulated gloves and shoes, ear muff, face mask, proper working clothes, welding safety gear, exhaust fan, fume hood,and dust collector, tool box, etc.

RATING:
24 – 25 outstanding
20 – 23 very good
16 – 19 good
12 – 15 pass
Below 11 listen more to the radio program and do your homework.

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Lesson on former  Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air)
Dr Abe V Rotor and Ms Melly Tenorio 738 KHz AM DZRB,

Practical Home Remedies and Tips. "Are you a victim of Monday morning blahs and blues?"

Practical Home Remedies and Tips

Pollen Allergy is often the cause of sneezing fit and asthmatic symptoms.

Dr Abe V Rotor   

                                                    

1. Simplest remedy for diarrhea.

Diarrhea claims the lives of 3 million people, with nearly 2 million oif them children under five years old. Yet a simple and inexpensive treatment can prevent many of those deaths. 

Here is a simple formula for oral rehydration:  fistful of sugar + a pinch of salt + a jug of water.  

This old home remedy is now recognized by the World Health Organization which claims that it has saved some 40 million lives, and hopes to demote diarrhea as the second leading cause of death among children. 

2. Do not do heavy work for 40 days after childbirth. 

This is especially true to rural women who do a lot of farm work aside from daily chores. But to urban mothers who are not usually accustomed to heavy physical work, it takes a longer time for them to recover after childbirth. The whole idea is to allow the inner organs to heal and the body physiology to get adjusted with child rearing.  Old folks recommend highly digestible and protein-rich food such as cereals, fruits and honey, which are also important in breast-feeding. Cognizant of the welfare of women, government regulation provides for an official maternity leave of sixty days, before and after child delivery.

In the village it is normal to nurse the baby for a year, but weaning may be started as soon as the child’s diet can be supplemented. Old folks would say,  “Milk doesn’t come out of the milk tree, it comes out of your blood.  Support that flow of blood that is converted into milk for the child.” 

3. Roasted shallot onion PHOTO is an effective suppository.

Old folks heat shallot onion the size of the index finger until it is limp.  They then coat the bulb with coconut oil and while still sufficiently warm insert it into the anus.  It is a home remedy to reduce extreme fever and to draw out gas that causes kabag. People who have constipation problems resort to this practice.

4. Oxalic acid in kamias weakens the bones.

Sinigang with kamias (Averrhoa balimbi) PHOTO is a favorite dish no Filipino kitchen is without. But too much intake of kamias is not good for the health because of the oxalic acid it contains which doctors and nutritionists found to be a cause of osteoporosis.  The principle is that, acids react with calcium compounds forming a neutral product – salt. In the process, the bone gets thinner and thinner predisposing it to break especially in old age. Thus, we should caution ourselves from taking too much acidic food, and in particular, kamias and balimbing (A. carambola)  which belong to Family Oxalidaceae

5. Onion and tomato spray kills harmful bacteria.

Spray derived from the extracts of these plants in low dilution proves to be effective against food bacteria. In certain restaurants it is a practice to spray the food with this stuff before it is served.  In others, standing food is sprayed to keep it safe. One problem though is the detection of the characteristic odor of onion, so that it is best to apply the spray on spicy food.

6. Sukang Iloko (Ilocos Vinegar) is a home remedy for sore throat and fever.

By the way, “vin- egar” means wine that has gone sour. It is oxidized ethanol or ethyl alcohol. Nowadays the vinegar we commonly find in the market is glacial acetic acid, an industrial acetic acid. Sukang Iloko on the other hand, is natural vinegar, a product of fermentation of sugar from sugarcane. Doctors may be adamant in prescribing it, but they recognize is effectiveness as home remedy, especially in the Ilocos, its origin.  Vinegar cure is included in herbal medicine books, and was used by the Egyptians, Greeks, and Chinese and other early civilizations. Old folks use sukang Iloko as gurgle to relieve sore throat.  To lower fever, they add equal amount of tap water and wipe it with cloth all over the body of the patient. 

7. Are you a victim of Monday morning blahs and blues?
That feeling of tiredness you experience on Mondays after a particular active weekend is directly related to your sleep/wake cycle. It is because any disruption of your regular sleeping habit, which consists of the ideal number of hours of sleep, the ideal bedtime and wake-up time, disturbs your biological clock.

By staying up late or sleeping in, or snoozing on a Sunday afternoon in a hammock can turn the circadian (weekly) cycle inside out. Take the case of my good friend Inciong who has the habit rushing up to finish his article for a weekly column deep into the night of Sunday. By Monday morning he feels out of sync and short of sleep, resulting into the blahs and blues. Often this feeling continues into Tuesday and Wednesday, as the body tries to reset to the weekday schedule. Thus, the ideal way to avoid the Monday morning tiredness is to stick to your regular sleep habits. But many of us, like Dell et al can’t resist staying up on weekends, working or socializing, or going out to a concert.

We are all candidates to this syndrome, but I have noticed that old folks are less affected by it. At one time I wondered how a farmer whom I have known for many years, manages to wake up early and attend to his chores with little sleep the Sunday before. “Don’t you feel sleepy?” I asked.
“Babawi ako mamayang gabi. (I’ll make up for it tonight),” he replied.

Indeed there is a scientific basis this practice, practice as it may sound. Try this. To avoid the Monday morning tiredness, stay up as late as the need arises or as you wish, but make sure you get up at your regular wake-up time. Don’t sleep in, and don’t take naps during the day. When night comes you will not find it difficult to fall asleep at your regular bedtime. In this way you reset your body clock back to its regular time.

This formula applies as well on any day of week, so that if you want to stay late, say on Wednesday, be sure to wake up on your regular wake-up time on Thursday. Then just what Tinong said, make up for it come night time at your regular sleep-time. You will feel refreshed on Friday and in the days ahead, until your sleep pattern is again disrupted. This is one way to avoid or overcome insomnia. 

8. Pollen Allergy is often the cause of sneezing fit and asthmatic symptoms. 

It is true. It is called allergy rhinitis There are people who are highly sensitive to pollen grains. And their allergy is specific to certain plants, and at certain seasons these plants are in bloom. Plants belonging to Family Poaceae or Graminae which include rice, corn, wheat, sugarcane, talahib, cogon, and the like generally bloom in the last quarter beginning October when dry season the habagat season is about to end and dry season starts.

Here are tips to prevent or minimize pollen allergy. · Keep away from flowers and flowering plants 

• · Stay home to prevent exposure to pollen 
• · Avoid touching eyes and skin to prevent spread of allergy. 
• · Don’t bring in flowers and plants inside the house. 
• · Use mask and proper clothing. 

There is a pollen calendar developed by the late Dr. Lolita Bulalacao of the National Museum, a pioneer in palynology (the study of pollen grains) in the Philippines. The calendar warns us people who are susceptible to allergy to keep away from pollen coming from certain flowering plants in season and from specific areas that may cause allergy. The symptoms of allergy rhynitis are generally relieved by antihistamine, which comes in different preparations and brands, as tablet or ointment.

9. When you cut your hand, raise it above the level of your heart to minimize bleeding. Following the law of gravity that “water seeks its own level,” elevate your wounded hand higher than your heart to reduce flow of blood, keep calm and focus on how to get first aid. You may lower your arm as blood clots and seal your wound. 

10.  Pansit-pansitan is effective cure of arthritis, lowers uric acid.

Pansit-pansitan or olasiman-inhalas (linlinna-aw Ilk) (Piperomia pellucida. It is a succulent weed growing in moist and shady places. Pellucidus means waxy or translucent which is characteristic of this common annual plant. I can vouch for the effectiveness of this herbal 
remedy. This is how it is used. 

• Gather the fresh plants from around the house, usually among potted plants. Leave the main stem and roots to grow new shoots for the next harvest. 
• Wash the stems and leaves with running water. You may remove the elongated floral part which bears plenty of tiny black seeds. 
• Boil two cups of water for three minutes. Three to four stems make a decoction. Allow it to cool.                              
• You may add honey or sugar while decoction is still hot. 
• Add hot water for a second or third serving. It may be taken liberally at anytime or until ailment subsides. 

There are other ways pansit-pansitan is prepared. In Vietnam’s Ho ChiMinh public market it is sold in bundles as salad vegetable. It reaches a length up to two feet. It is usually served fresh or blanched. I found out that pansit-pansitan can be taken with coffee by simply adding to it while it is very hot. Or simply dip into a cup of to piping hot water, and allow it to cool. 

Pandan mabango (Pandanus odoratissimus) may be added to flavor the drink. Patients may find relief in a day or two. If there is any allergic reaction such as diarrhea or palpitation, discontinue the treatment and see your doctor. ~

Pansit-pansitan, Pandan mabango

United Nations International Day of Happiness March 20, 2026 - Theme: CARING and SHARING

 United Nations International Day of Happiness March 20, 2026

Theme: Caring and Sharing

Gross National Happiness (GNH)

Dr Abe V Rotor

Have you heard of a measure of growth and development based on people's happiness?

Well, it is called Gross National Happiness (GNH) by Bhutan, the proponent of the idea. It is more than people's welfare which is the aim of Human Development Index (HDI).  And it is a radical alternative to Gross National Product (GNP) which is a broad and unqualified gross measure of a country's economic growth.  

Bhutan's bold attempt to quantify national well-being and achieve sustainable

development (Gross National Happiness Index) is opening the eyes of the world to the paradox that rising incomes don't bring happiness (Easterlin Paradox, named for American economist Richard Easterlin).  

 Happy Bhutanese people in their native costumes

This is a long known fact but it was shrouded by an apparently progressive capitalistic world  in the last three decades - until recently – when economic crisis gripped the most progressive countries led by the US and members of the European Union, now affecting other countries, among them the the Philippines. 

Filipinos are naturally a happy people

amidst hardship and difficulties in life. 

The paradox is steadily being felt in China as it replaced Japan as the second biggest economy of the world. And the new tiger economies as well -  Singapore, Korea, Taiwan, including India which is 

an upcoming technology giant.

(Singapore Survey: Less than a third of the population doesn’t like to live to a 100 years.)

Unhappiness has been the cause of depression, and depression often leads to self-destruction. Rising incomes, if taken as an analogy to Easterlin Paradox, increases the rate of depression and therefore suicide.  Thus the highest rate of suicide in the world has been observed in highly industrialized countries like Japan, the US and UK, with victims that include young men and women in the prime of their careers, and set to "conquer the world" but have failed to meet their aspirations.

GNH is a Eastern alternative to pressures of the materialistic Western world. The new measure aims at reducing pressure of living on the fast lane. It reduces the influx to cities and consequential buildup of urban marginal communities. It holds on to time-tested, community-based living. It is an alternative to a stressful life, and pressures of  competition.  

To make GNH workable, Bhutan is adopting a program based on four pillars, namely

• sustainable economic development
• conservation of the environment
• preservation of culture
• good governance

What is happiness sought for by a people, by a nation or region? It is really more than material benefit.  It is more than growth of institutions.  Of high rise buildings and wide avenues. It is something that elevates the human spirit on a higher level, albeit religiosity.  It is something that speaks of now and tomorrow, of the welfare of our children and children's children. 

Translated to the individual person, happiness may be gauged by his answers to these simple questions often encountered in daily living.

• "How many people can you count on for help in case you get sick?" 
• "How often do you eat meals together as a family?"
• "How restful can you be after a weekend?"
• "How comfortable are you with the level of household debt?"
• "How satisfied are you in your present work.?"
• "How often do to take time out with the kids?"
• "How comfortable are you at home? In the neighborhood?"
• "How secure are you with your income?  Savings?"
• "How fulfilled are you your career? Livelihood?  Vocation?"  
• "How satisfied are you with you community's governance?" 
•  "How satisfied are you in sharing your talents and resources?  
•  "How well preserved is your natural environment?  

Maybe we might as well ask

• "How happy did you feel yesterday?"
• "How satisfied are you with life today.?

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Happiness is …. 

Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life. Omar Khayyam (PHOTO FROM RUBAIYAT)

Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get. Dale Carnegie

There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved. George Sand

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. Albert Schweitzer

Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort. Franklin D. Roosevelt

The secret to happiness is freedom... And the secret to freedom is courage. Thucydides

A grateful heart is a beginning of greatness. It is an expression of humility. It is a foundation for the development of such virtues as prayer, faith, courage, contentment, happiness, love, and well-being. James E. Faust

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. Mahatma Gandhi

Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. Nathaniel Hawthorne

Love is the master key that opens the gates of happiness, of hatred, of jealousy, and, most easily of all, the gate of fear. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life. Albert Camus

Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go. Oscar Wilde

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. Thomas Jefferson

True happiness is... to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future. Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Happiness depends upon ourselves. Aristotle

Happiness resides not in possessions, and not in gold, happiness dwells in the soul. Democritus

Joy can only be real if people look upon their life as a service and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness. Leo Tolstoy

Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know. Ernest Hemingway

The happiness of the bee and the dolphin is to exist. For man it is to know that and to wonder at it. Jacques Yves Cousteau

A happy life must be to a great extent a quiet life, for it is only in an atmosphere of quiet that true joy dare live. Bertrand Russell

“The basic thing is that everyone wants happiness, no one wants suffering. And happiness mainly comes from our own attitude, rather than from external factors. If your own mental attitude is correct, even if you remain in a hostile atmosphere, you feel happy. If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only make others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace. If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”  - Dalai Lama

A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy? Albert Einstein

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The United Nations declared 20 March the International Day of Happiness to recognize the relevance of happiness and well being as universal goals. 

Parameters of Happiness of GNH Index:

1. Psychological Well-Being

2. Health

3. Time Use

4. Education

5. Cultural Diversity

6. Good Governance

7. Community Vitality

8. Ecological Diversity and Resilience

9. Living Standards

10. Family

11. Spirituality

12. Sense of Achievement

Self-evaluation: Rate yourself using the Likert Scale: 1 Very Poor, 2 Poor, 3 Fair, 4 Good, and 5 Very Good. 

Compute the average by adding the values of all the parameter, and divide it sum with 12. This is the general perception of happiness of the person concerned. What is equally - if not more important - is in being able to find out the main source of happiness, at the same time, the least. This exercise therefore, is aimed at re-affirming our sense of values in the pursuit of happiness. So does a community. 

We say we are happy, or a little happy. Or unhappy. Or sad. But how can we quantify happiness like in a grading system?

The founding father of happiness research, Dr Happiness himself - Dr Edward Diener of the University of Illinois.* calls this technique The Satisfaction with Life Scale.

This test can be used in the classroom, in meetings and conferences, or just for the sake of bonding with friends and associates.

On a piece of paper rate yourself in each of the following items. Use a scale of 1 to 7, where 1 is not true at all, 4 is moderately true and 7 absolutely true. The scale allows you to approximate closer to your self-judgment.

Children's summer art workshop, a community project. San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

Here are the criteria:

1. In most ways my life is close to my ideal.

2. The conditions of my life are excellent.

3. I am satisfied with my life. 

4. So far I have gotten the important things I want in life.

5. If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing.

Compute for the total score by adding all values from the five questions. Here is the interpretation of your score.

· If you got 31 to 35, you are extremely satisfied with your life. Kudos!

· If you got 26 to 30, you are very satisfied with your life.

· If you scored 21 to 25, you are slightly satisfied. 

· Those who scored 15 to 19 (slightly dissatisfied) will have to perk up and unload some reasons. Get to the neutral point which is 20, and thence move up the happiness ladder.

It's not hopeless if you got low. The idea of this exercise is to create awareness that there are avenues of happiness, and that there are basic levels of happiness that one can cling to, and say, "Oh well, that's life." And still manage to laugh. And the world laughs with you. “Laugh and the world laughs with you.  Weep and you will weep alone.” Ella Wilcox ~

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* 
The General Assembly of the United Nations in its resolution 66/281 of 12 July 2012 proclaimed 20 March the International Day of Happiness, recognizing the relevance of happiness and well-being as universal goals and aspirations in the lives of human beings around the world and the importance of their recognition in public policy objectives. It also recognized the need for a more inclusive, equitable and balanced approach to economic growth that promotes sustainable development, poverty eradication, happiness and the well-being of all peoples. The resolution was initiated by Bhutan, a country which recognized the value of national happiness over national income since the early 1970s and famously adopted the goal of Gross National Happiness over Gross National Product. It also hosted a High Level Meeting on "Happiness and Well-Being: Defining a New Economic Paradigm" during the sixty-sixth session of the General Assembly. UN/Internet

United Nations International Day of Happiness

March 20, 2026 Theme

 Happiness is Caring 

and Sharing

            

Dr Abe V Rotor