20th March – International Happiness Day! 😊

MONDAYS

What is International happiness day about you ask? Well, it’s a day to celebrate the happiness of course. In 2012, the United Nations (UN) declared March 20 to be observed as the International Day of Happiness. The aim of this initiative is to recognizes that happiness is a fundamental human goal, and calls upon countries to approach public policies in ways that improve the well-being of all people.

By marking this day of happiness, the UN aims to focus internationally on the idea that economic growth must be inclusive, equitable, and balanced, such that it promotes sustainable development, and alleviates poverty. The UN also acknowledges that in order to achieve global happiness, economic development must be accompanied by social and environmental well-being.

International Day of Happiness aims to promote the idea that the pursuit of happiness is universal.

History

The initiative to declare a day of happiness came from Bhutan – a country whose citizens are considered to be some of the happiest people in the world. The Himalayan Kingdom has championed an alternative measure of national and societal prosperity, called the Gross National Happiness Index (GNH). The GNH rejects the sole use of economic and material wealth as an indicator of development and instead adopts a more holistic outlook, where the spiritual well-being of citizens and communities is given as much importance as their material well-being.

International Happiness Day in UAE

The UAE leadership has placed the welfare, well-being, stability, and happiness of their citizens at the heart of its policies, plans and strategies and these consistent and tireless efforts have paid off with international organizations specialized in human development giving the UAE high ranking as a symbol of happiness and satisfaction.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, created a Minister of State for Happiness, the first of its kind in the region and one of the few in the world, who will have the responsibility to “align and drive government policy to create social good and satisfaction“.

Where the primary mission is to harmonize all government plans, programs, and policies to achieve a happier society.

The UAE was ranked the happiest Arab country and 28th globally in the UN’s fourth ‘World Happiness Report, WHR2016’, ahead of some of other advanced economies like France (No. 32), Spain (37) and Italy (50).

Are you happy?

What is happiness? Well, happiness means different things to different people, but the one thing in common about happiness is peace and satisfaction. We all want to lead a happy life, we want our loved ones to be happy too but what are we doing to achieve this? As a society are we giving enough priority to this? Despite economic growth worldwide we are still no happier now than we were 60 years ago.

Despite all this, we can choose to bring happiness to our lives, our actions and choices can affect our happiness. Our happiness has less to do without wealth and possession, in fact, it has more to do with our attitude and relationships with other people.

A happier world is possible, your actions and choices can make a difference.

How do we achieve this?

There are many ways we can achieve this, here are 5 tips to a happier living and a happier society.

Giving – Caring for others is fundamental to our happiness, it is also an added benefit to us, by caring for others we are happier, and when we are happy our health improves. And by giving we connect to people, and this helps build a healthy and happier society.
Exercise – Our body and mind are connected. Being active makes us healthy and happy, instantly improving our mood which can lift us out of depression. Simple things can make a difference such as eating healthy, spending time outdoors, a walk, unplugging from technology and sleeping well.
Mindfulness – Live and enjoy the moment, stop and take notice of things rather than rushing through life, whether your eating, walking or in a relationship spend the time to focus on the little aspects.This helps us get in tune with our feelings, and stops us dwelling on our past or worrying about the future.
Learning – learning affects our wellbeing in positive ways, broadening our horizons, exposing us to ideas which help us stay engaged and curious to learn and discover more, giving us a sense of accomplishment boosting our self-confidence and flexibility.
Bright side – every cloud has a silver lining, try to see the positive aspect of a negative situation. Positive emotions such as joy, gratitude, inspiration all don’t just feel good when we experience them but also have positive benefits to our health, helps us to broaden our perception, increase resilience, and improve our physical and mental health.

I hope you find these tips useful, these are just suggestions so you can use them to recognize what you might be already doing that is good for your happiness. Try to build more of these into your daily lives and day to day choices for a happier living a happy life.