Humor and wit brighten your life in gloomy weather

Learn and practice the art of telling jokes 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Making a tree laugh 

  
On waking up and find yourself a millionaire

The art of telling stories that are humorous and witty, jolting people from their seats, or simply breaking the ice, so to speak, is an art. It disarms people from bad mood, lightens the load of daily grind, and makes them share it.. their own jokes and wits as well.

Five Filipinos were discussing what they would do if they awoke one morning to discover that they were millionaires.  

• The Cebuano said he would build a big cockpit arena.
• The Manileño said he would go to Las Vegas and have a good time.
• The Palaweño said he would build an island resort. 
• The Ilocano said he would deposit the money in the bank and live on its interest.  
• The Boholano said he would go to sleep again to see if he could make another million.

Why does a captain go down with his ship?

A soldier who lost his rifle was lectured by his captain and told he would have to pay for it. 

"Sir," gulped the soldier, "Suppose I lose a tank, will I have to pay it, too." 

" Yes, you will, even if it takes your whole life in the army." 

"Now I know why a captain goes down with his ship." 

Honesty really pays

Two friends were riding a bus and had just reached their destination.  At the station one of them realized she hadn't paid her fare. Confessing to her friend she asked, "Did you pay for me?"  To which her friend wryly answered, "No."

"Well, I'll go right up and pay."

"Why bother? That's just a small matter, and you were able to get away with it."  

"I believe that honesty always pays." And virtuously she went to see and pay the conductor. 

She returned holding a fifty-peso bill.  "See, I told you honesty always pays!"  "I handed a twenty-peso bill and he gave me this change." ~ 

Time and space 

"The distance between Manila and New York is the same as from New York to Manila." Explained one of three friends.  

"Well, not when you come back on the other side of the globe." 

"What do you think, Jon-Jon?"

 "I dunno; its just a week from Christmas to New Year, but is it a week from New Year to Christmas?" 

Just the same

"If you have your life to live over," the prominent octogenarian was asked, "do you think you'd make the same mistakes again?"

"Certainly," said the old man, "But I'd start sooner." 

Memory lapse 

"Have you forgotten that 500 pesos I lent you a month ago?"

"Not yet, give me time." ~ 

Disparity

In his Sunday mass homily, the priest told the faithful, "As I look around, I ask myself, 'Where are the poor?' "

"But when I look at the collection, I say to myself, 'Where are the rich?' " 

A five-letter word is the real problem

A five-letter word,

not enemy, not study,

not bored, not birth,

neither dying nor death;

wanting around the world 

in springtime or autumn,

in dark days or sunny -

this five-letter word;

craved by everybody 

none other but money.~ 

Author with his students at UST; children in frolic. 

Activity: Write down jokes you can recall.  They should be witty, clean and meaningful. Avoid vulgar jokes. Compile them into a collection or book. 

Serendipity and Peace

 Serendipity and Peace

Peace, like happiness, is a by-product. It is the end result of our common endeavor to put things in their proper order.

Fr Rolando de la Rosa, OP

   

UST Main building (top); Arch of the Centuries and Fountain of Knowledge

Serendipity means accidentally discovering something valuable while looking entirely for something else.

"We are gathered here looking for a way to make peace in a turbulent world. I hope that/we shall learn not only techniques and strategies on how to make peace. I hope we shall discover that peace is not something we make: as in make love, make money, or make believe. A holy man named Augustine once wrote: Peace is the tranquility of order. Tranquilitas ordinis.

Peace, like happiness, is a by-product. It is the end result of our common endeavor to put things in their proper order. We shall never experience peace if there is dis-order in our personal lives, in society, in our churches.

One contemporary apostle of UNITY among peoples, Chiara Lubich once gave us this insight into our contemporary situation: 'What hurts me is mine.' I take those words to mean that peace begins when we realize that all the pain and suffering we endure are of our own making. It is by owning this pain that we develop a sense of belonging to a human family broken by sin and its consequences, and which enable us to dialogue with others in humility and reverence."

Excerpt from the welcome address of Rev Fr Rolando V de la Rosa, OP, rector of the University of Santo Tomas, before the delegates to the 7^th General Assembly Asian Conference of Religions for Peace (ARCP) Peacemaking in Asia, October 17 to 21, 2008.

Mystery of Life's Beginning and Ending

 Mystery of Life's Beginning and Ending

" ... when population can be contained no more

and the finite resources reach the limit."

Dr Abe V Rotor 

Living with Nature School on Blog

Bryophytes and fern carpet a boulder. Closeup photos

Mosses and algae cling on living trunk of Albizzia tree (Photos taken at the 

Ateneo de Manila University Diliman QC

Shelf mushrooms colonize tree stumps, living on lignin and cellulose 
and breaking them into elemental form.

When does life start? 

When volcanoes settled into ash
three billion years ago.

When a meteor got too close to earth
and blew a breath of life.

When the virus' chemical bond deceives
a host cell as foster parent.

When a giant protein molecule became a blob
in the vast ocean of soup.

When paedogenesis rules over fertilization
and results in virgin birth.

When the stem cell predestined as embryo,
is also reserved as tissue or organ.

When plants, animals and protists are disguised
as gametophytes and sporophytes.

When countless spores disseminate with few
survivors finding foothold somewhere.

When mosses and algae carpet a rock,
die and resurrect the next season.

When mycellia long laid to rest wake up
to lightning and become mushroom.

When sulfur bacteria colonize volcanic craters
on land and on the ocean floor.

When fission, budding, cutting, tillering,
defy aging and mutation.

When does life end? 

When the world comes to a fiery end
five billions years from now.

When a comet gets too close
or a huge meteor falls to earth.

When the last member of a population
bids farewell to the species.

When the last forest is razed, coral
reef leveled, rivers reclaimed.

When flu virus becomes interactive
and produces more virulent mutants.

When global warming shrinks the continents
and submerges the islands.

When the glaciers lay the mountains bare;
rivers, lakes and streams run dry.

When farms and pastures, and valleys
turn into wastelands.

When genes are engineered to befit
man's greed, but bereft the species.

When population can be contained no more
and the finite resources reach the limit.

When Malthus ghost is back with the grim
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

When intelligence makes man a robot,
and robot becomes man. ~

Young Musicians

 Young Musicians

"Happier are those who play the tune,

than he who stops at the chord,

they who keep alive the inner vision,

the music that lights the world." avr

Dr Abe V Rotor

Author's children: Marlo, Anna and Leo at home, c.1989

I imagine young Haydn mimicked

a strolling fiddler with pieces of stick,

and young Beethoven writing music

from birds and lambs at the creek.

In Messiah Handel saw God's image,

while Mozart excelled before the king,

and Chopin the piano-poet of his age

saw neo-classical music emerging.

Happier are those who play the tune,

than he who stops at the chord,

they who keep alive the inner vision,

the music that lights the world. 

Light in the Woods, 1995 Megabooks 

The Cockfighter (Ang Sabongero)

The Cockfighter (Ang Sabongero) 

Dr Abe V Rotor

The Cockfighter (Sabongero) in acrylic on palette board by AV Rotor, 2021

I used to be a cockfighter in troubled years,

when winning I had friends all around,

when lost, I lost them, too.

The Janus I was, king of the world, 

alone in the quiet of dawn,

and in abandon.

Who is he, Grandpa? asked a little one;

Oh, he was the greatest fighter

but lost in the battlefield. ~

Beware the Ides of March! Surrealism Art: "Et tu Brute?" (Last words of Julius Caesar*)

Beware at the Ides of March! (March 21 - Vernal Equinox**)

Et tu Brute?

Last words of Julius Caesar*

Dr Abe V Rotor

Artist's interpretation of the assassination of Julius Caesar on the ides of March 44 BC symbolically depicted on a shattered marble slab, by AV Rotor 2021

* Et tu, Brute? is a Latin phrase literally meaning 'and you, Brutus?' or 'also you, Brutus?', often translated as 'You as well, Brutus?', 'You too, Brutus?', or 'Even you, Brutus?' As readers of William Shakespeare know, a dying Caesar turned to one of the assassins and condemned him with his last breath. It was Caesar's friend, Marcus Junius Brutus.

Marcus Junius Brutus, a leading conspirator in the assassination of Julius Caesar, died by suicide after his defeat at the second battle of Philippi. (Internet)

*In the Northern Hemisphere you have: Vernal equinox(about March 21): day and night of equal length, marking the start of spring. Summer solstice (June 20 or 21): longest day of the year, marking the start of summer.

Gross National Happiness (GNH) (In celebration of the International Day of Happiness (March 20, 2021)

Gross National Happiness (GNH)

(In celebration of the International Day of Happiness (March 20, 2021)

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.?

-------------------------------------

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

-------------------

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.

  Integrated art workshop for children conducted by senior citizens. Graduation with Vice Mayor Nancy Tabanda and OSCA Chair Dr Peroma L Pacis as guests in the workshop graduation. San Vicente, IS 2016

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. Two participants got scores on this level.

· 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 ~

----------------

* 
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.