International Day Of Happiness: How Can We Be Happy?

The term happiness is used in the context of mental or emotional states, including positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. So what is our Happiness Quotient? According to World Happiness Report Finland is the happiest country. Bhutan is the happiest country in Asia.

Change is constant and so is man’s search for happiness. Living in a pandemic hit world for almost a year now, our happiness somewhat got buried under panic, fear, and stress due to the various situations that followed COVID-19. But, today on the International Day Of Happiness, let us smile a little and make others smile too. This mission of the day is, “To serve as a beacon of light, inspiration, and hope for all who aspire to live happy and fulfilling lives.”

Jayme Illien, Founder of the United Nations International Day Of Happiness says, “The 2021 International Day of Happiness campaign theme, Happiness For All Forever, seeks to unite the great human family in common purpose, to enhance and advance the happiness of individuals, organizations, communities, nations, and all of society, in harmony with nature, and to ultimately achieve the happiness of all life on earth.”

Happiest Countries In The World

According to the World Happiness Report, “every year the report normally compiles data from the previous three years of surveys. We do this to increase the sample size and keep the confidence bounds smaller. Looking at each country from 2018-2020, we find these 10 are the happiest in the world”:

1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. Switzerland
4. Iceland
5. Netherlands
6. Norway
7. Sweden
8. Luxembourg
9. New Zealand
10. Austria

(Note: Luxembourg was not surveyed in 2020 and is represented by its 2018-19 survey in the official rankings)

While the COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on people’s mental health across the globe, there were some countries amidst stress, depression, and future uncertainties that found happiness and got listed in the top 10 happiest countries in 2020 as per the World Happiness Report. “This year, however, because of the pandemic, we thought it would be interesting to also report how countries fared in 2020 only. We note that the one-year samples are small enough, and the top country scores are so close, that the differences between nearby countries are not statistically significant. Here are the top 10”:

1. Finland
2. Iceland
3. Denmark
4. Switzerland
5. Netherlands
6. Sweden
7. Germany
8. Norway
9. New Zealand
10. Austria

India has been ranked 139, out of 149 countries evaluated. Pakistan did much better than India and has been placed 105 th Rank much higher than India. While China is placed at 84th rank.

How Can We Be Happy?

There are many ways in which one can be happy and spread happiness amongst those who surround him/her. Some of these ways include:

• Gratitude and gratitude journal
  Be grateful for what you have in life and appreciate it. You can never be happy if you keep your focus on things that you do not have. Practice gratitude and you can also maintain a gratitude journal, where you can spend at least 10-15 minutes every day and write down the things that you are thankful for.
• Look at the brighter side
  We often talk about being optimistic and that is because optimism is the key to happiness. If we face something unpleasant in life, we should try to learn from it and grow, instead of being disheartened about the fact that it happened. Step up and move on. Every incident in our life teaches us something, therefore, we must focus on that.
• Always be kind
  Even in the fast-paced, stressful world, never forget to be kind to yourself and others. Treat people with respect and do not be rude to them, because you never know what one is going through. Be happy and spread happiness.
• Meditate
  Meditation can instantly calm you down and relax your mind. Keep your thoughts positive and incorporate gratitude during meditation. Meditation will also help you lower your stress and be happy.

Apart from this, an article published by Forbes mentioned 20 ways to be happy and some of those are:

• Exercise
• Eliminate roadblocks
• Choose your friends wisely
• Build social connections
• Understand your feelings
• Embrace empathy
• Believe that you have the power to change your life
• Practice happiness
• Declutter
• Have an open mind
• Celebrate you

You can also challenge yourself to incorporate these 7 habits into your everyday life.

1. Mindful Monday
2. GratiTuesday
3. Wellness Wednesday
4. Thoughtful Thursday
5. Friday Freedom
6. Saturday Social
7. Soulful Sunday

Always remember that the people who surround you have a huge impact on your life. Therefore, it is important to have people who motivate you, celebrate your happiness, and support you in your hard times, and most importantly those who do not make you feel inferior or insecure.