THE etymological root of “gratitude” is “gratia” in Latin and translated as “grace” in English, which literally means “one’s good pleasure” or “favour”. 

Gratitude Begets More Blessings And Happiness

In my last piece of this column, I have tackled on the virtue of gratitude as a wellspring of blessings, underscoring that our gratefulness does not only please the one we are grateful to but it likewise benefits ourselves in the form of blessings and happiness.

Can We Be Grateful For Something Bad?

IN my last column piece, I ventured ruminating on the evilness of poverty, stressing that the tragedy of poverty may be attributed to some wrong-doers who are causing other people’s deprivation and misery.

Loving The Poor

 INTERESTINGLY, while our contemporary world is a washed with such conspiracy theory adducing that COVID-19 has been purposely contrived to advance global depopulation, modern biological science seems to have likely forged the formula for enhancing longevity or rewinding the human age clock.

Has Science Hatched The Recipe For Longevity?

Back when I was taking up philosophy in the seminary, I remember a rhetorical verse, dubbed a “prayer of an agnostic”, taught to us by our priest-formator (now a bishop emeritus), which says:

Why Believe In God?

IT’S‌ ‌quite‌ ‌ironic‌ ‌–‌ ‌or‌ ‌so‌ ‌it‌ ‌is.  While‌ ‌UN’s‌ ‌International‌ ‌Day‌ ‌of‌ ‌Peace‌ ‌was‌ ‌ celebrated‌ ‌last‌ ‌Tuesday‌ ‌(September‌ ‌21)‌ ‌–‌ ‌with‌ ‌a‌ ‌rather‌ ‌rhetorical‌ ‌theme,‌ “Recovering‌ ‌better‌ ‌for‌ ‌an‌ ‌equitable‌ ‌and‌ ‌sustainable‌ ‌world”‌ ‌–‌ ‌the‌ ‌more‌ ‌inescapable‌ ‌it‌ ‌seems‌ ‌to‌ ‌be‌ ‌easily‌ ‌engulfed‌ ‌by‌ ‌the‌ ‌dumbing‌ ‌din‌ ‌of‌ ‌‘unpeace’.‌ 

World ‘Unpeace’

From the social media, I stumbled upon Gere’s (as attributed to him) “21 Powerful Tips To Achieve Happiness In Life”, which reads, thus:

	1. Forget about your age – after all, it’s just a number.
	2. Improve the relationships with people around you.
	3. Wake up with a smile on your face every day.
	4. Fulfill any of your dreams when you were a child. Have fun in what you like to do.
	5. Take care of what you eat, enjoy it and balance your diet.
	6. Stay physically active – walk, run or practice some sport everyday.
	7. Try to see every obstacle in your life as a lesson in going forward.
	8. Be grateful with what you have.
	9. Learn something new every day to keep your brain sharp.
	10. Express yourself and listen to others.
	11. Practice art – if you need to, find a teacher who will help you express yourself.
	12. Avoid toxic and negative people.
	13. Do not contaminate your body with what harms you.
	14. Open your heart and stay true to yourself.
	15. Do something different everyday – take a different path home and try to enter new 
	      places.
	16. Enjoy something new every day.
	17. Find some positive news everyday and share it with someone you love.
	18. Practice kindness and detachment.
	19. Learn how to receive.
	20. Judge less; or even better, don’t judge at all.
	21. Live each moment to the fullest.

	Very well said. I have no qualms agreeing with such tips, which may run down to the following components: being worry-free or absence of negativity; having positive relationships; fun and smiles; care for physical health; learning lessons; living in the present; love, kindness, compassion, gratitude, and appreciation of what is “true, good, just, and beautiful”.

	But, on cursory estimation, I find these 21 tips as contiguous but generally sporadic to the extent of being unable to remember and apply them to specific life situations or circumstances.

	So, I decided to simplify Gere’s 21 tips and condense them into “Four Cardinal Rules For A Happy & Meaningful Life: To Live, Love, Learn, and Laugh.”


1. To Live

	The very first step in the path to happiness is to acknowledge your life – which entails finding value, meaning, or significance of your life. As the American poet, William Arthur Ward, aptly said, “Before you die, live!”

	As our first rule, to live means:

•	To embrace, without judging it, all of life’s joys and sorrows, ups and downs, opportunities and challenges, victories and disappointments – as they all happen for a reason. To live happily is to live GRATEFULLY. There’s a saying in Chinese, “Gan en mei yi tian,” which means “Be thankful every day”.  These days, waking up each morning from bed and able to breathe and have your morning coffee are enough to be thankful for.
•	To live in SIMPLICITY by focusing on the “essentials” or things that matter most in life. A simple life is easier, happier and more meaningful.
•	To be authentic or being true to yourself and not simply living up to others’ expectations.
•	To be WORRY-FREE by always living in the present moment, not brooding over the past nor being anxious about the future.
•	To live HEALTHY by giving utmost care to your physical and mental well-being through balanced nutrition, sleep or rest, and physical exercise.

2. To Love

	The greatest of all commandments is love. It conquers all. It is the alpha and the omega, the be-all and end-all of life. From birth we have proceeded from God’s creative act of love, and thereby brought into the locus of love, our family. From childhood to adulthood, our human nature draws us into engaging in RELATIONSHIPS with others, largely defined through the spectrum of love. And, at the end of life, as St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta quipped, “we will be judged according to how much we have loved”.

	As our number two rule, thus, to love means:

•	To acknowledge that your individual life’s purpose is founded on love, being the be-all and end-all of life.
•	To embrace love as the fundamental principle in all your RELATIONSHIPS – with God, with his natural creation, with yourself, with your family, and with the people around you.
•	To have a PRAYERFUL and loving relationship with God as well as with his natural creation. 
•	To strive or work for a positive and enriching relationships with others or the people around you.
•	To embrace kindness and compassion; gratitude for what you have; and empowering appreciation for what is “true, good, just, and beautiful”.


3. To Learn

	As life is a constant work in progress, it is a never-ending learning process from womb to tomb and beyond. This is the underlying principle of evolution, of constant transformation or change.

	Thus, to learn means:

•	To see every obstacle or challenge in your life as a lesson in going forward.
•	To always strive for positive transformation by learning something new or exploring possibilities.
•	To learn not only to give but also to receive.
•	To never grow old but only keep on growing (or learning) in wisdom, faith, and love.

4. To Laugh

	A hearty laughter with friends. An innocent smile from a babe. Pure joys out of a family bonding. Simple fun with peers or work colleagues. These are priceless moments – and ever beautiful and memorable – in life. They make life HAPPY and MEANINGFUL.

	Thus, number four rule, to laugh means:

•	To always wake up every morning with a smile on your face.
•	To have fun or find pleasure in things that you like to do.
•	To always relish and enjoy the gift, warmth and pure joys of family life.
•	To choose happiness – as something that comes from within and not from outside.
•	To be happy in what you are, not in what you have.
•	To be happy in what you give, not in what you get.
•	To choose to be happy NOW – not tomorrow.

Verily, choosing to live, love, learn, and laugh will make your life worth living. Because at life’s end, what matters most is not how much you have acquired or achieved, but how HAPPILY and MEANINGFULLY you have lived.


Rules For Happy Living: To Live, Love, Learn, and Laugh

AS All Souls Day or Undas is recognizably fast-approaching, we are once more allured into pondering about the reality (or ‘un-reality’?) of what lies beyond our grave. 

Life After Death

HAVING spent a considerable number of years in the seminary, I can readily acquiesce the truth that indeed fasting provides a host of spiritual benefits.

Besides Spiritual, Fasting Has Health and Longevity Benefits

Is Poverty Evil?

The Inspired & Blessed column by OpinYon News columnnist, Bob Acebedo.

Inspired & Blessed

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