This week the world celebrates the International Day of Happiness, a day that we at Serenity fully support. The International Day of Happiness asks us all to make a simple pledge: “I will try and create more happiness in the world around me”.
So, in the spirit of creating happiness in the world, here are 10 things we can all do this week to create happiness around us:
- Call someone you care about, just to say hello. Doesn’t it brighten your day to hear from your loved ones, completely out of the blue? Chatting to someone we love always makes us feel happier, and that happiness will spread to the people around us and them.
- Spend time in nature. We belong in nature, and it’s no surprise that returning to it lifts our mood. Even if you don’t have time/access to visit the wilderness away from the city you live in, spend some time in a garden or park. Just a simple dose of fresh air and green grass can do wonders!
- Do something nice for someone. Ever heard of Giver’s Gain? By doing nice things for strangers, we get a boost of happiness ourselves, so in addition to how amazing we’ve made them feel, we also feel great. That’s a lot of happiness created!
- Join something that matters to you. It could be an exercise group, a book club, a volunteering organisation, or something else incredibly niche that you care about. By joining something that matters to you, you’re going to spend more time doing something that makes you happy.
- Smile. As the saying goes, when you smile, the whole world smiles with you. Next time you go out, even if it’s just to the grocery store or the bank, go outside with a smile. Take note of how your smile spreads happiness around you.
- Practice Gratitude. Want to feel happier instantly? Take a pen and write down a list of things in your life that make you happy, that you can be grateful for.
- Give someone a gift. It doesn’t have to be expensive – it can be as simple as some flowers picked from your garden. When you give someone a gift, you will make them and you feel happy instantly.
- Choose the bright side. There is a lot of negativity reported in the news and on social media these days, but we all have a choice in our reactions. Choose to look on the bright side, and focus on the positivity in the world.
- Choose love. When we interact with other people, we always have the choice. There are some people that we may never agree with, but that doesn’t mean that we have to hate them. We have the choice. Choose to accept others with love.
- Choose happiness. Every morning, when we get out of bed, we decide how to spend our day. Make the choice to spend it feeling happy. Make the choice to spend it spreading happiness.