Ismael Cala
There is an old rhyme widely used in children’s stories that says: “…and they were happy, and they ate partridges”, as a nice closure for great stories, those that made us believe as children that a better world has always been possible, without embargo; our reality is far from being a fairy tale: war, economic crises, precarious political efforts in some regions, the pandemic, among other things; they have made the lives of billions less than total bliss.
For this reason, the International Day of Happiness is celebrated every March 20, an initiative created by the UN in recognition of the relevance of the search for well-being and happiness as a global aspiration of all people, and that therefore ; nations have a duty to develop inclusive policies that make this possible.
That same day, the list of happiest countries is released and for the sixth consecutive year, Finland has achieved the long-awaited first place with 7,804 points, only being followed by Denmark (7,586) and Iceland (7,530). The United States was ranked 15th (6,894), while the Latin American country with the best position was Costa Rica, in 23rd place (6,609), followed by Uruguay in 28th position (6,494).
But on what criteria are they based to measure this index? To carry it out, a sample of 1,000 citizens per country was taken, and the references used were GDP per capita, the level of corruption, life expectancy, in addition to the negative factors already mentioned.
Although it is true that the concept of happiness is subjective, and varies culturally, in this case it is necessary that there are certain elements that speak of the well-being and quality of life that a person has so that they can consider themselves happy.
I recently participated in the World Happiness Summit in Lake Como, a three-day event that brings together the most prominent speakers, coaches and mentors in well-being and happiness worldwide, to provide attendees with a series of tools that will help them develop a happier lifestyle.
Perhaps in life there are always challenges, but the important thing is to have strategies that help us overcome them, because we all deserve to live and be at peace, eating partridges and being happy.