International Day of Happiness

Each year March 20 is celebrated worldwide as the international day of happiness. It was founded by United Nations special advisor Jaymie Illien and was adopted by the United Nations in 2012. The purpose of the international day of happiness is to recognize the pursuit of happiness as a human right and a fundamental human goal.

Happiness is a state of mind that is associated with experiencing joy, contentment, positive wellbeing and calmness. It is a feeling of warmness and richness in life and wanting to live.

Happiness is necessary for mental, emotional and physical health. Happy people live longer.

Our brain works better, and we make less mistakes when we are happy.

We do not need to wait to reach our goals, then be happy. We can be happy while we are working toward our goals. Being happy helps us to reach our goals and when we get there, we will be happier.

There is a science for happiness. Being happy needs conscious effort.

  1. Decide to be happy. In the morning decide that you are going to stay in a beautiful state of mind no matter what happens. If you become unhappy, get back to a state of joy as soon as you can.
  2. Be grateful. Being thankful for the past, present and future is one of the most important for factors for being happy. When you are grateful you are thinking about what you have and love instead of thinking about what you don’t have and don’t love.
  3. Be active, go for a walk, run, bike ride any other physical activity. Physical activity activates the left prefrontal cortex of our brain and as the result we receive more joy, increased cognitive function and reduced stress.
  4. Sleep well. Have 8 hours of sleep.
  5. Smile and laugh. When you smile, you activate the same neurons (nerve cells) in your brain as if you are actually happy.
  6. Socialize and spend more time with your family and friends and less time on social media.
  7. Be kind and help others.
  8. Do a rewarding and important project, it activates the reward center in the brain and increases the transmitter dopamine, making you feel happy.
  9. Get more light, the best is sunshine of course. But you can increase the light at home. Light increases the transmitter serotonin in the brain, making you feel happier.
  10. Do something loving, for example hugging your children or other family members or holding your pet. It increases the transmitter oxytocin in the brain, and you feel that warm, happy feeling.
International Day of Happiness - Mind Medicine