Because the CEO of the Happiness Analysis Institute, my work is devoted to measuring and understanding what improves folks’s wellbeing and general high quality of life.
We’re based mostly in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, one of many nations that’s constantly ranked the happiest on this planet. Danes are sometimes stunned by this reality. As somebody who was born and raised in Denmark, I am typically requested about what makes Danish folks so content material.
I feel the perfect brief rationalization is the Nordic welfare mannequin is nice — not excellent, however good — at mitigating among the sources for unhappiness. However there could also be one thing in our tradition and language that enhances our wellbeing as properly.
If you’d like a sign of how we strategy life and take into consideration happiness right here, you will discover the reply in these three phrases we use day-after-day.
1. ‘There isn’t any such factor as dangerous climate — solely dangerous clothes’
That is an previous Danish expression with none clear origin. It has at all times been part of the cultural cloth right here.
Denmark has twelve months of rain per 12 months, or not less than it feels that approach. If we solely went outdoors when it was sunny and heat, that might seldom occur. The excellent news is that we firmly consider that the majority climate circumstances could be loved, so long as you simply gown for the event.
After I was a college pupil, I had a job promoting Christmas bushes in December. It was a good half time gig, however I’d be outdoors throughout the darkest time of the 12 months in Copenhagen. I used to be outfitted in heavy boots and 6 layers of wool and drank a number of cups of espresso throughout my shifts to maintain heat. I had a beautiful time.
There’s a analysis mission from the London Faculty of Economics that goals to grasp how folks’s emotions are affected by their surroundings. The Mappiness App tracked greater than 30,000 folks over time, and what they discovered is that individuals report larger ranges of happiness when they’re outdoors in nature.
Not only for Danes, however for all Scandinavians, there’s a love for friluftsliv (free, open air dwelling). The easy enjoyment of being outdoors, regardless of the season, is an integral a part of life right here.
As one other favourite saying goes: “Dangerous climate at all times seems to be worse by means of the window.”
2. ‘Do you wish to hygge a bit?’
Hygge is a cornerstone of Danish tradition and lifestyle. Maybe it’s best described because the artwork of making a beautiful and heat ambiance. Hygge is each a verb and an adjective. So one thing could be “hyggelig(t)” or hygge-like. “What a hyggelig lounge!” “It was so hyggeligt to see you.” “Have a hyggelig time.”
We’ve got to state how hyggelig every little thing is. On a regular basis.
And never simply within the hygge second itself. We discuss how hyggeligt it will likely be to get collectively on Friday and on Monday we are going to remind one another of how hyggeligt Friday was. Once we go away our get collectively on Friday night, we thank the host for a hyggelig time. “It was so hyggeligt to see you.”
We’ve got to state how hyggelig every little thing is. On a regular basis.
Hygge is a key efficiency indicator of most Danish social gatherings. “Honey, do you suppose our visitor hyggede themselves?” (That is previously tense — do not try and pronounce it.)
That’s the reason hygge has been refined to the extent it has and why it’s seen as a part of the nationwide id of Denmark. Hygge is the antidote for the chilly winter, the wet days and the quilt of darkness.
When you can have hygge all 12 months round, it’s throughout winter that it turns into not solely a necessity, however a survival technique. That’s the reason Danes have a fame of being such hygge fundamentalists and why we discuss a lot about it. Speaking about it helps us acknowledge these small moments of pleasure each day.
3. ‘Pyt med det,’ or, ‘It does not matter’
“Pyt med det” is a generally used phrase in Denmark that interprets to, “It does not matter, or, “Don’t be concerned about it.” Initially, it was really used as a swear phrase which means “hell.” As we speak, it has a really completely different which means and connotation.
“Pyt,” or “by no means thoughts,” embodies a profound acceptance and launch of fear. It’s the mild exhale amid life’s storms, a reassurance that issues shall be okay, even after they appear to not be.
It is a good reminder to not sweat the small stuff, just like the final time I misplaced my laptop computer on a airplane. Earlier than getting upset, I requested myself, “Six months from now, is that this going to influence my happiness or my high quality of life?”
As is most frequently the case with these sorts of missteps, the reply was no. I might say “pyt med det” and transfer on. As for the pc, it was finally returned to me.
Some households or lecture rooms actually have a bodily “pyt button” that you would be able to push if you run into these sorts of issues, as a tangible reminder. So whether or not it is a minor setback or a significant disappointment, “pyt med det” encourages us to shrug off negativity and transfer ahead with grace and resilience.
Meik Wiking is the founder and CEO of The Happiness Analysis Institute in Copenhagen. He’s a analysis affiliate for the World Database of Happiness, member of the Advisory committee to the International Happiness Coverage Report and Founding father of The Happiness Museum in Copenhagen. He’s a New York Instances best-selling creator, has been translated into 38 languages and has been known as “the happiest man on this planet” by The Instances.
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