A recent report from Inquirer.net talks about how the Philippines is the 20th happiest place in the world according to the Happy Planet Index of the New Economic Foundation.
The ranking comes based on resident’s well-being, life expectancy, inequality of outcomes, and ecological footprint. The report surveys 140 countries and found that the developed nations of the west, though deemed as more successful, didn’t rank high in the scale. In fact, most of the nations in the top 20 include developing nations such as Mexico, Vietnam, Nicaragua, Bangladesh, and Thailand.
Though it is a good thing that our problems, which reach across almost all aspects of life and society, don’t get us down it seems, we shouldn’t just stop and rejoice at the ranking.
Happiness may very well be a perception and though many of us still find joy in the little things, we still have heavy issues to deal with. Just ask our current president who seems to be cooking up a new issue every now and then.
And though we have seen that wealth may not guarantee happiness with Norway and Spain being the few western and developed countries in the top 20, it’s not a reason for us to stop improving and solving our issues.
So a little caveat for those of you with a smile on right now. Not to be a downer, but remember happiness can sometimes come with a price.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay
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