It’s this weekend and what better way to celebrate the weekend than to celebrate the International Day of Happiness 2021. The International Day of Happiness is observed on March 20 across the world with the aim to spread happiness and make people aware about the value of happiness. The day is organized by the United Nations and has been celebrated since 2013.
International Day of Happiness: History
The International Day of Happiness was observed first when its resolution was passed on July 12, 2012. The resolution was first introduced by Indian neighbour Bhutan. Bhutan emphasized the value of nation’s happiness over its national income since the 1970s.
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Bhutan was the first country of the world who started measuring its prosperity and the wellbeing of its citizens not on the basis of GDP or per capita but by the happiness its people possessed. In 1971, Bhutan first talked about the concept of Gross National Happiness that aimed to measure if citizens were really content on the basis of development indices along with measuring people’s ability to freedom of choice, their generosity, perception of corruption, spirituality, their outlook on environment, etc.
It took the United Nations 40 years to acknowledge the importance of happiness. Jayme Illien, CEO of the United Nations New World Order project took the reigns of the day in 2006 and in 2013, the first-ever International Day of Happiness was celebrated.
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On the International Day of Happiness 2021, Jayme gave a speech and said, “Fellow Citizens, members of the 7.8 billion strong global human families, let us rise and unite in common purpose on this 2021 International Day of Happiness. Let us bid adieu to the coronavirus pandemic, and all threats to humanity such as climate change, poverty, inequality, hunger, gender and racial discrimination, slavery, depression, fear, and anxiety, among all others, by advancing a totally new economic and human development paradigm which achieves ‘Gross Global Happiness’”.
The United Nations have announced 10 Steps to Global Happiness as the theme of International Happiness Day. These steps are laid out in the aim to induce global happiness among people of any organization, country or community.
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10 Steps to Global Happiness 2021
1. Tell Everyone
The first step in the 10 steps is to raise awareness of the day by telling people about the idea and purpose of spreading happiness which is the mission of the International Day of Happiness. The first step is designed to be a simple step in which people can wish their friends, family members, colleagues or even a stranger a “Happy International Day of Happiness”.
2. Do What Makes You Happy
True happiness is all about experiencing self-love through mindfulness, acting in a conscious manner. The second step of the plan is to have a positive mindset and celebrate the day by doing the things that people love and make them happy.
3. Virtually Attend a Happiness Day Event
Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, people are forced to attend events virtually. United Nations in its efforts to celebrate the International Happiness Day will be conducted 80+ events happening across 40 countries across the world. Each of these events will have multiple activities that are related to enhancing happiness on the planet. You can go on the official website of the initiative and register yourselves to enjoy those events.
We all have heard this simple yet elegant fact that happiness is contagious. The fourths step of the 10-step plan is to spread joy around the world by doing simple yet impactful deeds like sharing a smile with stranger, reaching out to an old acquaintance, doing a simple act of generosity.
5. Celebrate
The 5th Step of the plan is to just simply celebrate the day by promoting the day on social media platforms with the #InternationalDayofHappiness hashtag. The United Nations on the initiative’s website suggests to let the world know about the day.
How often do you catch yourself feeling insecure when someone shares something they enjoy? How about you focus on taking to social media and connecting with people over the ideas, concepts, music and things that makes you happy.
7. Promote the Resolutions
The 7th step of the plan is to promote the mostly unheard important United Nations resolutions like UN Resolution 65/309 (Happiness: towards a holistic approach to development) and UN Resolution 66/281 (International Day of Happiness).
8. Advance the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development
The 8th Step of the plan is to work towards the several UN Global Goals for Sustainable Developments like clean water and sanitization, decent work and economic growth, reduced inequalities, sustainable communities, climate actions, peace justice and strong institutions, etc.
9. Enjoy Nature
As it is the weekend, the 9th step of the plan can be easily attained. Step 9 is to go outside such as a park, a natural site, on a hike and get in touch with the nature. Although the COVID-19 norms have pushed us into a world where we can’t go out much, just going to one’s terrace and looking at the birds and the trees outside can make one happy.
10. Adopt Happytalism
The 10th step is to adopt an inclusive, equitable and balanced way to economic growth that not only helps us thrive economically, but also promotes equality, inclusivity and happiness among people, a concept also known as Happytalism.
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