Doom and gloom seem to be the everyday headlines when it comes to updates about the coronavirus. If it is not about how many more are infected, then it is also about prevention by social distancing. You have to make an effort to find uplifting news to help suppress your possible anxiety and worry.
We may be living in stressful times but if there is a day we need to, perhaps, feel better in this current atmosphere, then it is on International Day of Happiness which falls on March 20.
What is the International Day of Happiness?
In 2012, the United Nations (UN) officiated the day to recognise “the relevance of happiness and well-being as universal goals and aspirations in the lives of human beings around the world and the importance of their recognition in public policy objectives,” as well as “the need for a more inclusive, equitable and balanced approach to economic growth that promotes sustainable development, poverty eradication, happiness and the well-being of all peoples,” as stated on the UN website.
Why is there such a day?
The resolution was initiated by the Kingdom of Bhutan (read also about “Lessons this Singaporean Learnt From Living In The World’s Happiest Place“), a country which values national happiness over national income since the 1970s, and where it famously adopted the goal of Gross National Happiness over Gross National Product. Bhutan also hosted a high-level meeting on “Happiness and Well-Being: Defining a New Economic Paradigm” during the 66th session of the General Assembly where a report presented the available global data on national happiness.
According to the World Happiness Report website, that report resulted in an annual one that reviews “related evidence from the emerging science of happiness showing that the quality of people’s lives can be coherently, reliably, and validly assessed by a variety of subjective well-being measures, collectively referred to then and in subsequent reports as ‘happiness.’”
The website also says every year, the report includes “updated evaluations and a range of commissioned chapters on special topics digging deeper into the science of well-being, and on happiness in specific countries and regions.” The reports can be insightful and helpful for governments and companies to have a better overall perspective on achieving happiness. Individuals can also learn from them in their own ways to affect change.
On an individual scale for us in this present time, here’s some suggestions on how to be happy in a time of coronavirus and social distancing:
