Wanted: Health, peace & happiness

Being that this is the week of the SONA, allow me to share my views on poverty. This is a hot topic. From my understanding, poverty is when one’s basic needs are not met. From a deeper understanding poverty is not just financial. It is emotional, spiritual. In essence, being above poverty means being able to live a quality life. I read a recent Time magazine issue (July 8) with the cover headline “Pursuit of Happiness.” It was very interesting for me to note that the countries that had the most money were not necessarily the happiest. Ireland for example has a generally happy population yet its economic variables are not that great. In the same vein, countries with great economic indicators have a low happiness index.

Quality of life: there is a very direct correlation between quality of life and the environment. The goal of the country has to be quality of life, not just GDP or Gross Domestic Product. Professor Ed Morato, a mentor and former dean of the Asian Institute of Management, the president of Bayan Academy and president of ACE Center for Entrepreneurship and Management Education, Inc. said it quite succinctly: when one cuts a tree, GDP may increase but quality of life may not necessarily be the result. Quality of life is founded on a broader and deeper understanding of what we are all about, where we want to go. Inherent in quality of life is the understanding that life is not just physical, it is emotional, it is energy. This is exactly why for the Green Initiative the goals are manifold:

1. Environmental (clean, air, clean water)

2. Economic (when one has money many things follow provided we have the right values)

3. Health (it is difficult to be happy if you are not healthy or if the environment is not conducive to healthy living due to pollution, etc.)

4. Peace and order (how can one have quality of life if one doesn’t feel safe?)

5. Happiness (what use is all the money if one is not happy?)

These are good points to consider during the week of the SONA. Where will the country go? The goal must necessarily be quality of life.

The inner truth of every human being is to do what is best for the collective. To forego this and just to focus on one’s welfare is contrary to what is right, what is the best for all. It is not an intellectual thing. When you go deep inside, you can feel what the right thing to do is.

When poverty is just viewed as a physical thing, then we relegate ourselves to become merely physical beings. When we fight for truth, though, then we have the courage to live by truth, and we go nearer to our divinity.

The societal goal? To endeavor to build a society where truth and righteousness prevail. I love P-Noy’s “Daang Matuwid.” Okay, our world is not yet perfect. But what needs to be applauded is that he is hell-bent on going in this direction. It sets up an impulse. This impulse does something to public psyche. The intolerance for imperfection is so healthy! Okay, the results are not perfect but the effort to get there despite all odds will yield results. “Losing patience” is a good thing. The drive behind “losing patience” is what is going to get us there.

Because it’s ABS-CBN’s 60th anniversary I’ve been doing quite a bit of traveling and meeting amazing people. My gut feeling tells me the future of the country is very, very bright.

So on this week of reflection on where our country is going, know that we all have a role to play in the future of our country, by the stand we all make. Let our stand be one of principle. Let it be a stand aligned with the common good; then we can have the future we so long for.

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I can be reached at regina_lopez@abs-cbn.com.