How to be Happy
The World Happiness Report for 2025 was released by the United Nations last March 20, 2025, which was also International Day of Happiness. The report does not only rank countries by their average levels of life satisfaction but also explored “the impact of caring and sharing on people’s happiness.”
Benevolence, which is synonymous to kindness, generosity, compassion and humanity, as a basis for happiness seems counter-intuitive. Normally, we equate happiness to the contentment we feel on the basis of what we have or what we have accomplished. In other words, it is typically viewed as something inward-looking. Am I happy with my life? Am I content with my job?
The surprising findings of the Report was not the ranking of countries based on happiness but the idea that “generous behaviors are associated with — and often directly cause — increased wellbeing among givers…if they embody caring connections, choice, and a clear positive impact."
This powerful conclusion of the 2025 Report confirms what many of Filipino parents attempt to teach their children—“to be kind to others”. Filipinos have been praised by foreign visitors for their sense of community and how they care for others. I remember watching a YouTube video of an American tourist who has visited the country a few times and who was surprised at how her Filipino neighbors would come knocking on her door with puto, pancit or any other merienda.
In the United States, this seldom happens (unless of course you are in a community of Filipino immigrants). I remember when we would spend Christmas and New Year’s in our house in the US, there was very little interaction or sense of community in the area where we stayed. Everyone pretty much kept to themselves.
This was the exact opposite of any community here in the Philippines. Here, everyone knows everyone. When I was a student, I recall some of my classmates inviting us to their hometown’s fiesta. And the instructions on how to get to their province was reflective of this close-knit community. They would typically not give out the formal address—the house number, the street, the Barangay, etc.—rather they would give out some generic instruction like “when you reach the bus terminal get into a tricycle and tell the driver to take you to the house of Dr. Santos.” This direction which lacks any kind of specificity is premised on the idea that everyone knows everyone. And most likely, the tricycle driver will not only bring you to your correct destination but maybe even tell you a story or two about Dr. Santos.
It is that kind of community that allows Filipinos to be caring to our neighbors. It does not matter if you are poor or rich, when someone needs your help you will be there to help out. This is a generalization, of course. I know that there are some people, as in any other country, who are selfish and would actually refuse assistance. But in general, I think Filipinos are a caring and sharing people.
When Forbes Magazine, in their 2020 edition of Asia’s Heroes of Philanthropy, asked me what inspired me in the donations I made, I simply replied: I believe that the path I took in life—from extreme poverty to successful entrepreneur—is a path that should be accessible to hardworking Filipinos who dream of a better future for their children and for their country. Caring and sharing is not simply helping out in the current predicament of your neighbor rather it is also a foundation to helping them build a better future.
And so I think that is why Filipinos have this image of being happy. It is because they are truly happy. And the fact that we have a strong sense of community, that we care for the well-being of others, and that we are willing to share with those in need, are what gives us joy and contentment.
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