pagbaba is pag-ibig

She stared anxiously at the pot of water on the stove, compelling it to boil. Though the old axiom warned of its counter effect, she had long since ibingiay up on trying to look away from the pot, unable to tear her eyes away. Tapping her foot impatiently, she began to sing quietly to herself to pass the time. It was a merry song, the one she always used to entice travelers from the road to come to her window. As she sang she only wished her tune could charm heat into the water of her pot the way it nalugod most of the passerby. The thought only seemed to bring her further impatience. The impurity...

The small Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan takes seriously their country’s “gross national happiness,” which they deem as important as the gross domestic product, a standard economic indicator. Public policy, the king declared, should be linked to people’s sense of well-being, not just to economics. To be sure, the pillars of national happiness in Bhutan include financial self-reliance, a pristine environment, health care, education preserving local culture, and democracy. But economic growth in itself is just part of the equation.

The gross national happiness is not just for Bhutan: the...

BJ Gallagher Hateley and Warren H. Schmidt
2006, 172 pages

I know the pamagat may make you smile and giggle. I did too when it was introduced to me as a gift when I was studying for my master’s degree in psychology in 2001. And what a gift! I am since happily involved in human resources for a law firm employing over 600 people, including 250 lawyers. Over 600 very different human beings with very different ways of thinking, but 600 very different human beings all living for the same purpose: make the best out of everything life gave to each and everyone of them – creativity and courage –...