March 20. International Day of Happiness

Every day of the year, a world or International day is declared related to something, human rights, the environment, health...

Why or for what purpose are these special days? Well, they are to attract the attention of the people and the governments to the problems of the world waiting to be resolved. So, the objective of these days is to make the people aware that these problems exist and that governments take action in respect of them.

The things that they want to manifest are related to areas of action within the United Nations, for example: peace, the protection of human rights, the promotion of sustainability and humanitarian aid.

During the month of March there are various International Days like International women's Day on the 8th, the day of the number Pi on the 14th and the 19th is Father's Day. Whereas on the 21st various causes coincide: Down's syndrome, Woods and Forests, Tequila and that of Poetry.

Anyway, today we are going to concentrate on a topic that we feel is very nice, with no disrespect to the others, the International Day of Happiness.

Why was it proposed to have an International Day of Happiness?

In the year 2012, the United Nations decreed that the 20th of March would be the International Day of Happiness after evaluating the proposition made by a small country in the Himalayan Mountain range called Butan. In 1971 the government of this country decided to pursue an ambitious challenge, to achieve national happiness, that is to say that all its inhabitants could be happy.

To achieve such a eutopic objective, the government of Butan decided to begin the search for actions and activities that would deliver spiritual, physical, social and environmental satisfaction. This instead of other types of action that brought any material benefits.

They created the Gross National Happiness Indes to measure the development of their country in terms of happiness, as opposed to the economic indexes of a country, that is to say, Gross Domestic Product.

This indicator of happiness is used internationally to evaluate the countries where people are happiest. To determine the happiness of the inhabitants of a country, nine points have to be taken into account: The psychological welfare, how and on what they spend their time, the level of comunity spirit, health, education, environmental diversity, standards of living and the Government.

The last study of the Network or Sustainable Development was published in 2018 by the United Nations. It evaluated 156 countries and apart from considering the nine previous points, it took into account other aspects such as the Gross Domestic Product or the absence of corruption. It showed that the countries where the people are happiest are these and in this order: Finland, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, Holland, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden and Australia. Curiously Butan did not figure among these countries.

What can we do to celebrate this day?

We have already said that this day makes people aware of the importance that we all have the same opportunities, that there should be no poverty in the world or that our planet is unique and we should protect it, as thiswill all add to our collective happiness.

With this objective in mind, we must not forget the best way to celebrate it is to do everything within our capacity to be happy and why not, make everyone around us happy too.

Happiness is something subjective, not all of us live it or conceive of it in the same way; what makes some people happy does not necessarily make others happy. So, each one must decide the way they want to spend this day.

There are many things that we can do: get up and be grateful that we are alive and for what we have, make ourselves a special breakfast, go for a walk and enjoy our surroundings, meet up with family or friends to talk and have a coffee, give a smile to others, listen to the music we like, help someone in a disinterested way, prepare something special for our loved ones, try to be in a good mood even though we are working. The list of things that can brighten up our day is endless, the important thing is that we take action.

The mission of the Day of Happiness is to remind us of the importance of trying to be happy every day. We know that life does not always smile at us, and that many times things are not as one would want them to be, and at these times it is very difficult to maintain a state of happiness.

We must understand that in life there will be laughter but also tears and that happiness would not exist without sadness, so, let's take advantage of all the opportunities of being happy and in the hard moments, when everything seems grey, let's think that sooner or later the sun will rise again.

Enjoy the Day of Happiness.