FIVE SIMPLE RULES TO BE HAPPY

14^th February 2011, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. I am very happy reading the statistics of my initial blog last December 2010; my blog is being viewed globally i.e. in Vietnam, United States, Canada, Macau, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Switzerland, Japan and of course the Philippines.


It gives me great pleasure and I appreciate very much the comments received and those who liked the posting in my Facebook account. It is very encouraging... thus here I am again to share my thoughts with you.

As an accountant allow me to analyze the typical daily activities of a person in a significant manner and in terms of numbers and figures and events, and interpret the result thereof.

Do you know that during a 24-hour everyday cycle one will normally spend 8 hours to sleep, at least 8 hours to either work or study, thus leaving only 8 hours to be happy?  I would categorize a person’s major activities as follow: (i.) sleeping, (ii.) studying or working, and (iii.) activities to be happy.

 

According to my research in the Internet, I was led to believe that in the Philippines the male’s life expectancy could extend to over 60 years on the average; while the female’s is somehow longer to around 70 years. Well, I don’t know exactly what the reasons for the difference between the opposite sex.

To extrapolate, by using the above data, where 8 hours for each major activity as fraction of a day represents one third (1/3) thereof, you could conclude that a Filipino during his life expectancy, is sleeping for 20 years, studying and working for 20 years, and with only 20 years or even less to be happy. Lucky for the Filipina would have much longer chance to be happy.

In theory, you can compute your remaining time to be happy by using the following formula:  Average life expectancy less your present age and multiply the difference by 1/3 equals the number of remaining years to be happy.  Now that you know, you could spend it more wisely.

Please note however that the time available for you to be happy is in a fact also being diminished by some other unwanted things, e.g. the time you spent in horrendous daily traffic!  One could be stuck-in traffic for say two hours daily in going to and back from work.   It may be further reduced if after working hours, you argue or quarrel with your friend, boyfriend or girlfriend, husband or wife, and then you are pissed off.

But exactly how can we be happy?  There are five very simple rules and I owe it to an unknown author, whose article I have read for the first time when I was an undergrad. I liked it so much that I jotted it down in my notes at the time; in that day and age there was no Microsoft Office yet, hence no “copy and paste”. I understand the same article is now available in the worldwide web, but let me save you the time of finding it and share it with you.

 

“The Five Simple Rules To Be Happy

God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun without rain, but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way. Disappointments are like road humps, they slow you down a bit but you enjoy the smooth road afterwards. Don't stay on the humps too long. Move on! When you feel down because you didn't get what you want, just sit tight and be happy, because God is thinking of something better to give you. When something happens to you, good or bad, consider what it means.

There's a purpose to life's events, to teach you how to laugh more or not to cry too hard. You can't make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to the person to realize your worth. The measure of love is when you love without measure. In life there are very rare chances that you'll meet the person you love and loves you in return. So once you have it don't ever let go, the chance might never come your way again. It's better to lose your pride to the one you love, than to lose the one you love because of pride. We spend too much time looking for the right person to love or finding fault with those we already love, when instead we should be perfecting the love we give.

When you truly care for someone, you don't look for faults, you don't look for answers, and you don't look for mistakes. Instead, you fight the mistakes, you accept the faults, and you overlook the excuses. Never abandon an old friend. You will never find one who can take his place.  

Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your friends! Life is too short and friends are too few!  Friendship is like wine; it gets better as it grows older.

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred.

2. Free your mind from worries.

3. Live simply

4. Give more.

5. Expect less."

           

I trust the above rules make sense to all of you.

Remember that no one can go back and make a brand new start. Anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending. 

As an accountant I may put it this way: “Yesterday is a canceled check; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is the only cash you have; so spend it wisely.”

I have shared the message and I will be back to write more…

Until then have a great day, week or month!

B L Mabeza is a former practicing external auditor in the Philippines.

The Wonderful World of Numbers & Figures

1st Edition: 1st December 2010, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It gives me great pleasure to be able to write again and share my thoughts with you. I used to write my other Taglish [mixed Tagalog & English] Journal entitled “Ang Buhay nga Naman.” [“Oh it’s Life” in English] but has stopped for quite some time due to my hectic schedule.

For nearly twenty years I have been engaged in the Accounting profession and naturally deal with numbers and figures; hence the title of this blog. We, professionals are affected by a lot of challenges, not only from work but also the happenings in the business community, the global economic crisis, global warning, etc. However it is not a reason to give up. One has to move and take action, as you know “good things come to those who wait, but not to those who wait too late”. 

Thus, here am I again to share with you my thoughts…

The Good Things about the Accounting Profession

Allow me to rewind; I still remember well when during my senior high school I attended the Career Guidance Seminar, joined by my fellows in the graduating class and several professionals, who served as resource persons, i.e. lawyer, doctor, priest, teacher, accountant and others; all of whom trying to convince us to follow their suit.

They (professionals) are all proud of their professions and even a few of them claimed that theirs is the first profession in the world. The Surgeon rose and claimed that Surgery is the first profession in world. Because according to him and referring to the Bible:  Eve was created by God by causing Adam to fall into a deep sleep and took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which God had taken from Adam, was made into a woman, Eve.  And therefore Surgery is the first profession in the world, which was applauded by the graduating class.

Immediately another professional stood up, “No my friends it’s not Surgery, but Agriculture that is the first profession in the World. You have to know that before Adam and Eve were created, God created flora and fauna first. So Agriculture is the first profession in the world!” This got a greater applause and started to create an excitement in the air.

All of the sudden, the Politician stood up and claimed: “Sorry, my dear ladies and gentlemen, it’s neither Agriculture nor Surgery that is the first profession in the world but Politics.” You are all referring to the Bible, and if you will read closely, you will note that even before creation there was already a debate in the Heaven, who will eventually rule our World.  And that’s politics, so Politics is the first profession in the world.” It was a silence that followed then and no other claim followed.

Well, I would say those professionals’ claims were partly wrong and correct. Only if you would consider God, as the greatest professional, and that you would believe in creation rather than evolution.

As for me, I am quite sure as to who were the first Engineer, as well as, the first Accountant in the world. The first Engineer and Accountant is only one person and it was Adam.  As the first Engineer he has the first erection and as the first Accountant he made only the first entry.

Well… kidding aside, it seems to me that the Accounting profession is essential in the business world, that’s why I pursued it. All professionals, be it a doctor, lawyer, businessman, actor and actress would definitely need the services of an Accountant; the Accountants have to prepare the Profit & Loss Statements and Income Tax Returns of these other professionals. Hence all types of businesses must have an Accountant.

As an Accountant we have to follow and are governed by standards and principles, for example when it comes to Inventory and Asset Management; we have the so called “FIFO” or first in – first out.  But what I like most is when it comes to employment, the Accountants are one of the first in and the last to be out. When a business entity is opened Accountants are hired to open the books and if for any reason the business were to shut down or goes on liquidation, still the Accountants would be retained to close the books and liquidate. Thus, an Accountant is always there – from the beginning to end. Hence, I could say at least Accountants are assured of a job. Would you agree with us?

I encountered this trivial question and wonder why the exercise by professionals of their respective professions is called a “Practice”.  Why practice? Is it because of “trial and error” sometimes, if not all the time?  As you could see, even God, whom I consider the greatest professional of all, also had practiced trial and error, when creating mankind.  First he created Adam alone, and realized the man is lonely, hence created Eve after, the woman, I suppose for us all  to be happy.

But what is good in our practice of our professions, is that the Client pays our fees, even if in some cases late.

As parting words for my first edition, let us all move on, take action; and don’t forget to keep learning and stay competitive.  There is a saying, though I can’t remember where it came from, saying: “A man who graduates today and stops learning tomorrow will be uneducated the following day.”

I hope you enjoyed reading this and I will be back to write more…

B L Mabeza is a Certified Public Accountant registered in the Philippines.