Tomorrow marks the thirteenth annual United Nations International Day of Happiness.
The annual celebration recognizes “the relevance of happiness and well-being as universal goals and aspirations in the lives of human beings around the world and the importance of their recognition in public policy objectives.” This year focuses on well-being in the digital age.
This was initiated by The Kingdom of Bhutan, which sponsored a UN resolution in 2011 endorsing this more balanced approach to economic development.
Bhutan developed the Gross Happiness Index, which measures nine domains: psychological well-being, health, education, time use, cultural diversity and resilience, good governance, community vitality, ecological diversity and resilience, and living standards.
The blend of capitalism and spirituality may raise some eyebrows in western countries; however, when taking a close look at the dimensions of this index, you may be curious to ponder your own score.
Take a few minutes to rank yourself on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the high score. Based on a quick mental scan of my clients, I would guess that “time use” is one of the lower scores, and for those who suffer from moderate to severe stress, psychological well-being and/or health may trend on the low side as well.
All of this is intellectually interesting, but it’s only data if you don’t do anything with it. If you self-score lower on certain factors mentioned above, what are you willing to commit to do to make changes?
In the meantime, Happy Spring – the vernal equinox also occurs tomorrow, March 20, at 10:46am in the northern hemisphere.
“No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.”
– Hal Borland
Header image by Roberto Hund/Pexels.
