20th March 2018 marked the day for International Happiness Day, a day that promotes that progress is not just marked by the economic growth, but how the wellbeing and happiness of people has been improved.
The first celebration took place in 2013 and celebrated ‘Happy Heroes’ recognising those in our community that bring happiness to others, The following year people were asked to share images that truly made them happy. A far cry from the forced images we see on a daily basis.
This year’s theme was Share Happiness and focused on promoting relationships, kindness and helping others. Being connected with others is really important but today’s reality is, that more people are experiencing loneliness and a feeling of isolation.
International Happiness Day might be hard for some people and it’s not about pretending to be happy when underneath you’re struggling with sadness, being scared or any other emotion.
Emotions constantly change throughout the day, they are never fixed and each one is as important as the other. Sometimes when depression, anxiety or any other mental health issue is present it can be common to focus mainly on the negatives in life and miss out on some of the positives that are present.
For me, this year International Happiness Day is about being kind to yourself and connecting with others. So, start small and see if you can notice the positives when they appear, even the little things in life. You know those moments you catch yourself smiling when you feel the sun on your face, or someone passes you by and greets you with a smile, or you forget yourself for a moment and laugh at the programme you’re watching.
And, if you’ve really lost that focus and need a little help, take some time to talk and explore what you can do to help yourself get there.
Previous blogs related to International Happiness Day:
13th March 2018, Listening Poem.
Credits
Picture: jill (2018) ‘Youth.’ [Online] Available at: https://pixabay.com/en/youth-active-jump-happy-sunrise-570881/ (Accessed: 21 March 2018)
Picture: Wokandapix (2018) ‘Lonely.’ [Online] Available at: https://pixabay.com/en/lonely-hiding-sad-young-alone-1822414/ (Accessed: 22 March 2018)
Bibliography
International Day of Happiness (2018) International Day of Happiness. [Online] Available at: http://www.dayofhappiness.net/about/ (Accessed: 21 March 2018)
Filed Under: All Blogs, Poems Tagged With: listen