I must confess that when the United Nations declared March 20 the International Day of Happiness, I was a bit disappointed. I’d always thought that eventually the Secret Society of Happy People would ask the UN for a proclamation for Happiness Happens Day on August 8.
However, I can’t rain on the happiness parade. The more days happiness is recognized, the more people will focus on being happy, and the happier the world will be.
This year to celebrate the 2nd Annual International Day of Happiness I encourage you to:
- Get happy with Pharrell Williams – you know his latest song “Happy.” And check out the UN Foundation for 24 Hours of Happiness. They want you to use the hashtag: #HAPPYDAY.
- Share the Society’s social media International Day of Happiness graphics that you’ll find on our Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram (AskPamelaGail) pages.
- Share the Secret Society of Happy People’s International Day of Happiness I-Spy Coupons in print or electronically.
- Share what type of happiness you’re feeling from our 31 Types of Happiness Happicons.
- Our friends at Nerium and Live Happy are sponsoring Acts of Happiness Events in 20 cities.
- Day of Happiness is requesting people to use the hashtag #happinessday on all of your happy social media postings.
- Or you can celebrate any other way that makes you happy!
Why did the UN proclaim an International Day of Happiness?
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stated that the world “needs a new economic paradigm that recognizes the parity between the three pillars of sustainable development. Social, economic and environmental well-being are indivisible. Together they define gross global happiness.”
When we think of creating global happiness, it can feel daunting. The truth is that happiness starts with us as individuals. When we’re happy, our happiness is naturally contagious. That’s how we create a happier world: One happy person at a time.
A world full of happy people won’t solve all of our challenging global problems. However, happy people instinctively look to be a part of their community. Our communities vary from our neighborhood to the globe depending on the issue that grabs our attention. By being a part of various communities that we can contribute something to, we’re making the world better.
Happiness is one of the universal emotions everyone experiences, regardless of differences, from culture, to language, to education, to economics, to gender and so forth. The universal language of happiness is a smile – everyone instantly understands and most often smiles in return.
As we know, being happy most of the time doesn’t mean that you’re never unhappy or you don’t have problems. It does mean that you believe that you can grow from your challenges even when you don’t understand them. It means that you’re optimistic (and yes, I’ll be blogging on the results of our survey soon) and focus on what’s right about your moments. It means that you recognize the moments that make like wonderful.
Today, when we’re celebrating the 2nd Annual International Day of Happiness, I wish you many happy moments and would love to hear how you celebrated below in the comments.
[Tweet “Happy International Day of Happiness! How are YOU celebrating today? https://sohp.com/international-day-of-happiness-march”]
Written by Pamela Gail
Pamela Gail Johnson founded the Society of Happy People in 1998.
The Society is grounded on Pamela’s four key Practical Happiness Principles:
Pamela identified 31 Types of Happiness that are on the SOHP App Happiness Counter to make it easier to recognize moments of happiness.
Pamela also plans and organizes the Society of Happy People's annual happiness celebrations:
She's also a speaker, trainer, and author.
A few of her personal smile starters include her monthly book club, yoga, traveling and meeting new happy people.