A life well-lived

What makes a life well-lived or flourishing?

Major answers: pray or go to church at least once a week. Have a trusting and loving relationship with your family. Connect with and enjoy social groups, preferably a religious group. Do something good for other people.

GDP is not a good measure of a well-meaning life. Japan is a rich country but the Japanese have a less meaningful life than say the people of Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and the Philippines, all Catholic countries.

Harvard, Baylor University of Texas and Gallup are doing a five-year Global Flourishing Study (GFS) involving 202,898 participants (98,411 males, 103,488 females) from 23 countries or territories representing more than half of the globe. The Philippines has 5,292 participants, 2.6 percent of the total; US 38,312 participants, 19 percent.

The GFS initial findings: “Regular participation in group activities, whether religious or civic, is generally associated with greater flourishing. In countries like the Philippines and Tu?rkiye, the positive relationship between flourishing and religious service attendance is stronger than that between flourishing and civic participation. Meanwhile, in countries like Spain and Germany, religious and civic engagement are similarly associated with greater flourishing.”

We did very well in the GFS Flourishing Index (zero is absence of flourishing; 10 is comprehensive attainment). The Philippines is third best in having people with a meaningful life, with an 8.17 score, after Indonesia (8.47) and Mexico (8.19). The lowest scores were those of Japan (5.93), Türkiye (6.59) and UK (6.88).

The GFS was done in 2023 with 2,300 Filipinos representing the country. So you can conclude life under President Marcos Jr. has been meaningful.

In our country, younger people, 40 or younger, have a more meaningful life (a score of 8.2) than their elders (60 or older) who have a score of 7.8. Younger Filipinos also have better mental health (8.2 for 40 and below) than older Filipinos (8.0 for above 60 years old).

Religious attendance makes Filipinos’ life more meaningful. “The average difference in flourishing between a person who attends a religious service at least weekly and a person who never attends is 0.86 points, whereas the difference between a person who attends a civil society activity at least weekly compared with a person who never attends is 0.17 points,” says the study.

Flourishing is defined as “the relative attainment of a state in which all aspects of a person’s life are good, including the contexts in which that person lives.” It is “a state of “a complete physical, social, emotional, cognitive, volitional and spiritual wellbeing.”

GFS measures six factors or core domains: 1) happiness and life satisfaction, 2) mental and physical health, 3) character and virtue, 4) close social relationships, 5) financial and material stability and 6) meaning and purpose, defined as the extent you feel the things you do in your life are worthwhile. Or do I understand my purpose in life?

Well-being or a well-lived life, says the study, is more than just health or happiness – it is a rich interplay of multiple life dimensions. “The negative relationship between meaning and gross domestic product per capita is particularly striking,” says the study.

Mental health is a key factor in well-being. But not always. In countries like Israel and Poland, mental health ratings contribute, on average, to higher flourishing scores across all age groups. In countries like Brazil and the United States, mental health ratings drag down flourishing scores for younger respondents but boost flourishing among older adults.

In general, those who were married reported the highest relationship quality.

Grieving for Johnny Dayang

On behalf of the Manila Overseas Press Club, may I express my condolences to the family of the late Juan “Johnny” P. Dayang, 89, a former MOPC president.

He was murdered by a hooded gunman and a lookout shortly after taking his dinner Tuesday night (April 29) in his Casa Dayang home in Villa Salvacion, Kalibo, Aklan.

I cannot understand why someone of his age, 89 (he would have been 90 this June 24) and retired, would make an enemy and be murdered in cold blood in his own sala. What harm can Johnny do to anyone?

Johnny was chairman emeritus of the Publishers Association of the Philippines Inc. (PAPI) after serving as its president for 20 years. He was a prominent journalist and publisher.

Johnny was watching tv when the gunman, wearing a bonnet, fired three shots from outside his residence. One bullet penetrated his neck. Two bullets shattered his back. He was declared dead on arrival at the Dr. Rafael S. Tumbokon Memorial Hospital at 8:33 p.m. Dayang’s caretaker, Marjorie Yap, said about nine on Tuesday morning he was killed, two unidentified men wearing bonnets were riding on a motorcycle near Dayang’s house, indicating a planned killing.

He was also former director of the National Press Club, the founding president of the Federation of Provincial Press Clubs of the Philippines and secretary of the Catholic Mass Media Awards.

Johnny was mayor of his Kalibo hometown, the provincial capital of Aklan, during the administration of the late president Corazon Aquino.

Police are looking into the incident and reviewing CCTV footages. The suspects sped away on a motorcycle. The murder motive remains unclear. Police are pursuing all possible leads.

PAPI president Nelson S. Santos declared: “We strongly condemn this killing and we are calling for justice. HINDI niya deserved ang cruel and senseless end.”
    Nelson wants the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFOMS) and its partner authorities to promptly investigate the Dayang case, identify the killers and the brains behind the murder and bring them to justice.

As MOPC chairman, may I call on PNP Chief Rommel Marbil to give his personal attention to this murder case and solve it asap. Till now, I don’t believe there is a crime wave.

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