International Day of Happiness 20 March 2024

The day of happiness is fast approaching. Yes, the International Day of Happiness is right around the corner! Yup, there exists a day of joy; it is an annual event celebrated worldwide and conceptualised by the United Nations! If you are curious as to what this day is all about, When is it? And why should you care about it? Let us tell you everything you need to know about this joyous day.

What is the International Day of Happiness, and when is it?

The day is, well, self-explanatory; it is a day of happiness! The day makes many people go, "Huh? There is a specific day to celebrate joy?". To answer this question, yes, there is a day specifically to celebrate happiness worldwide and to answer the question of when the day of Happiness is celebrated, it is on March 20 every year. It is a global event that is organised by the United Nations for a simple reason; to remind us that being happy is every human's basic right and everyone deserves to be happy.

The history of International Day of Happiness

The history of World Happiness Day isn't as vast and complicated as the chapters we had in our history books in school. We will try to keep it as concise as possible. World Happiness Day was established on June 28 2012, by the United Nations General Assembly and its nonprofit partner group Action for Happiness, which is made up of 160 countries! The goal of this day is to spread awareness that progress is not only about economic growth and increasing the bottom lines but also about human well-being and happiness! The UN General Assembly in 2011 made a resolution that made giving happiness 'a fundamental human goal' the same priority as economic growth. In 2013, just two years after the resolution, the entirety of the UN celebrated the first International Day of Happiness, and this global event has grown since then with growing awareness of this event in the general population.

Why should you celebrate it?

Well, the biggest question raised after hearing about the International Day of Happiness is that "Should I care?" The answer is YES! Let us give you a few statistics to look at for you, and then we will explain why you should care. According to the WHO, there are around 300 million people that are living with depression, and at the same time, there are many who are living with an undiagnosed lack of happiness in their lives. Living in the pressure of achieving something in our lives in this modern world and, ironically, in our pursuit of happiness makes plenty of us put the happiness we are chasing in the backseat. 

So many of us show signs of stress and burnout in this pursuit and don't even pay attention to it! This day gives you a reason to practise one of the best stress management activities of being happy. This simple reason is why you should care about and celebrate this day since you might know how it feels. It is not only about being happy yourself and doing things that will make you happy but also about spreading joy at the same time. Just by simply making a stranger happy, you might make someone's day or, you never know, even save a life. You can even use this day to actually take your time to think about whether you are actually happy or not!

How can you celebrate World Happiness Day?

There are plenty of ways you can celebrate this day of happiness. Even the smallest of things you do can go a long way. You can listen to your favourite music or volunteer for something! The possibilities are endless to be happy or spread happiness. We have made a small list of things you could do on the International Day of Happiness to make your lives a bit easier.

1. Smile; it's contagious

The simplest way to make anyone happy or just get them to smile is by smiling! We all have been there when we started smiling by looking at someone's smile even though we have no clue what is going on in their mind! Paul Coelho captures how contagious smiling can be in this line, "A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you".  

2. Compliment a stranger

Complimenting someone is the best way to make someone's day or fix their bad day and make them happy. When you compliment someone, you not only make them smile but also make them feel good about themselves. Plus, there is a chance that you might also get a compliment in return (validation for the win!). So on this day of happiness, try and compliment a few people and see how their faces light up with a smile. 

3. Spend some quality time with your close ones

The best way to make yourself and others happy this World Happiness Day would be by spending some time with your close ones. It can be your family, best friends, or even your partner. You can sit and reminisce about fond memories, stupid old jokes, and all the fun you all have had together. By the end, your cheeks would hurt from smiling, and you would question how time passed so quickly. Time passes so quickly when we have fun. 

4. Give flowers

A neat little thing you can do to make someone happy this International Day of Happiness would be to give flowers to people. It can be anyone you know or a stranger (try not to look like a creep). Try to give out roses if you can since smelling roses can actually make you feel better! No matter how much anyone shows that they don't like flowers, everyone loves it when someone gives them a flower.

5. Do what you like

If you don't want to head out and meet people on this day of happiness, you can always do what you like. You can follow your hobbies or do what makes you happy. Do whatever you feel like doing, follow your heart for this one day and see how you will enjoy every second of it.

6. Order your favourite food

Do you want to laze around and watch TV the entire day this World Happiness Day? You can do that as well; you can order your favourite food and enjoy the day that way as well! There is something you can do to make someone else's day as well; you could tip the delivery person because why not? Spread some love! 

7. Give back to your community

Giving back to your community is among the best things to do this International Day of Happiness. Helping other people and seeing them will surely make you happy as well because smiles are contagious. You can volunteer and give back to the community. If you are wondering why you should even volunteer. Volunteering has many benefits to it other than making others smile! Being someone's reason to smile is probably one of the best feelings!

8. Self-care and self-love

Caring for and loving yourself is the best thing you can do to make yourself happy! You can spend the entire day sleeping, dressing up, putting on make-up, playing video games, and cooking; the possibilities are endless, and there is so much you could do this International Day of Happiness. Obviously, you can also reflect on things that are causing problems and list down the things that are a constant in your life that make you happy! There are so many things you can do; we cannot underestimate that!

These were all the things you could do on the day of happiness. Mark the day on your calendar and spread some love and happiness and enjoy it the most. Carpe Diem! Since we are talking about happiness, you should know that mental health plays a crucial role. Check out this blog to understand the importance of mental health and how to take care your health while studying abroad.