Happiness is an emotion we all have felt at least once in our lifetime and that doesn’t mean we won’t feel it again. But what is happiness? How do we know we are happy?

“I got this feeling inside my bones
It goes electric, wavy when I turn it on
All through my city, all through my home
We’re flying up, no ceilin’, when we in our zone,
I got that sunshine in my pocket
Got that good soul in my feet”

This is how Justin Timberlake sings about how happiness felt inside him, in “Can’t Stop the Feeling”, and I don’t think anyone can disagree because we can never describe the happiness we feel, even if we did, it won’t be justified. We feel the happiness inside our mind, in our feelings, within our body, and in the words, we speak because it is altogether a mental, physical, and spiritual booze that we gain just like having the sunshine inside of our pockets.

The English word “Happy”, traces back to the 14th century and is a derivative of an Old English word meaning, “good fortune, luck” just like it says it is a fortune to be happy. Aristotle, in the fourth B.C, brought up the concept of Happiness defining it as an activity of the soul that expresses virtue. The paradox is that ‘happy’ is one of the most used words yet it is what most people lack in them.

So, on March 20th, World Happiness Day, we must foster the privilege of being able to feel genuine happiness even in a minuscule moment. From dawn to dusk people rush to figure out how to achieve happiness instead of being happy in the moment in what they do, the people they hang around with, the small steps of success they take, and what they have been gifted with.

A couple of things that guide us in achieving true happiness are believing that we deserve to be happy and knowing our true worth, that way we will never allow ourselves to put ourselves in a situation that we will regret someday. But at the same time, we must not forget that bad times are for the lessons to learn to create good times. Moreover, being grateful, kind to others, contented, and celebrating all our wins both great and small can bring happiness. While allowing ourselves to be happy we must allow others the same privileges as it is considered that being happy is a right of any living being, fair treatment, helping others in need, being a great companion to someone, and reaching out to people who go through tough times and brightening their lives by simple actions, appreciating, complementing in their victories are the deeds to practice to spread
happiness according to books.

So, here are some of the things that are not written in books; Take a good afternoon nap, make a new TikTok video, scroll through Instagram, do retail therapy, work out at the gym, take your pet for a walk, take a bubble bath, eat an ice cream, hang around with your friends, eat out with your family, or maybe gossip with your friends, and the list goes on because no one knows what makes us happier than ourselves and with the modern world, why not make ourselves happy with modern ways?

But why is happiness so important and why we are told that it is a priceless treasure? What do we gain from being happy? Most people are unaware that happiness plays a major role in their mental, physical, spiritual, and social health as it is proven to be linked to lower levels of stress, which in turn can reduce the risk of chronic diseases like heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes. Additionally, happier individuals are known to have stronger immune systems and on top of that, happiness leads us to have stronger and improved relationships with friends, family, and romantic partners because of enhanced empathy, compassion, and better communication within happy individuals. Not to mention that being happy gives one more potential to achieve life goals, whether in career, education, or personal aspirations and gifts us a longer and healthier life.

Therefore, this is a reminder on World Happiness Day, to keep in mind that there is nothing more of a big deal than being happy and spreading happiness and not to forget to raise a glass for all that you have done for yourself to be happy because no one else can feel it for you!!!

Written by- Shakya Ratnatilake

Image Credits-

Featured Image- https://bitly.ws/3gnB4

Image 1- https://bitly.ws/3gkEJ
Image 2- https://bitly.ws/3gkES