What is patience? Patience is an essential human attributes that is vital to better relationships among individuals, families, friends, societies, and nations. Why is it necessary to be patient (longsuffering)? What are the characteristics of a patient person? In Biblical literature, The Sermon on the Mount, referred to as the Beatitudes is perhaps a...
Continue readingEducation and Intelligence Underpin Happiness
“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” ― Aristotle (384 BCE–322 BCE) Education and intelligence underpin happiness, but an interesting observation is that people attribute the same meaning to the words education and intelligence in daily conversation. Is education the same as intelligence? A general assumption is that an...
Continue readingPhilosophically Speaking: What is Human Behavior?
What is human behavior? Human behavior is the way in which we conduct ourselves both in private and in public, spiritually, morally, socially, intellectually, and physically. What is the impetus behind human behavior, good or bad? For better or for worse humans behave in accordance with the human ecosystem, underpinned by our cultural influences....
Continue readingComplex Dimensions of Happiness
“We frequently pass so near to happiness without seeing, without regarding it, or if we do see and regard it, yet without recognizing it.” ― Alexandre Dumas (1802–1870) Observing the journey of life, with its undulating state of “happy” moments overshadowed by “unhappy” moments led Marjorie and me to conclude that there are complex dimensions...
Continue readingPhilosophically Speaking – What, Factors Constitute Great Nations, Great Leaders, and Great Followers
“Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects of you. Never excuse yourself” — Henry Ward Beecher (1813 ―1887). The world has witnessed many different political systems of leadership (from dictatorship to democracy), and many types of leaders (from autocratic to democratic) but what factors constitute great nations, great Leaders, and great...
Continue readingConflict Avoidance is the Highest Essential to Enable Happiness
“There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness.” ― Alexandre Dumas (1802–1870) Can happiness exist in an environment of conflict? We begin with “conflict avoidance” because it is...
Continue readingPhilosophically Speaking: What Inspired the Writing of – Five Foundations of Human Development (FFHD)?
The objective of Five Foundations of Human Development (FFHD) is to introduce an approach to the discourse of human development, which considers parallel growth in spiritual, moral, social, intellectual, and physical development. It proffers compelling philosophical, analytical, and empirical arguments for a better world, which is inherent in the worship of God, service to...
Continue readingWhat Inspired the Writing of —Discovering Your Optimum Happiness Index (OHI)?
What inspired the writing of Discovering Your Optimum Happiness Index (OHI) was our earnest desire to share our inquiries and insights into our “search for happiness” and the great benefits (spiritual and material) that we have experienced on our “happiness journey.” Foremost, happiness is a birthright (Spiritual, Inherent, and Constitutional). We have discovered that...
Continue readingPhilosophically Speaking — Capitalism, Socialism, Material Progress, Wealth Disparity, and Poverty
One can argue that Capitalism and Socialism are the two dominant systems that undergird politics and the workings of the economy of Western nations, with some compromises between them, but not easily attained. Political leaders in Western nations are either for or against one or the other of the two opposing systems of capitalism...
Continue readingSpirituality and Happiness
“This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.” ― Isaac Newton (1643–1727) The principal lesson that humanity can learn that will engender “happiness” and “joy” is the need for spirituality in our lives. The apparent decline in the display...
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