I watched a CNN segment on Fareed Zakaria’s GPS show about the 2018 “World Happiness Report.” Published by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the rankings of 156 countries are based on people’s assessments of their well-being in Gallup World Poll surveys. The top nations “tend to have high values for all six of the key variables that have found to support well-being: income, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom, trust, and generosity. The top three countries on the list are Finland, Norway & Denmark, with the U.S. dropped to #18 from #14 last year. https://www.newsday.com/news/world/world-happiness-report-2018-1.17466485
 

I shot the image of the smiling people above when our driver took a detour while driving from Agra to Jaipur, India. We stopped for directions at a very isolated village on a bumpy dirt road. Everyone seemed quite happy and surprised to have visitors. I’ll always remember their smiles.

Before we all start thinking of moving to a Scandinavian country let us look at a few things that can make us happy close to home. What makes a person happy can be very esoteric,…or something as simple as… a few Cheerios.

Happiness is being with those we love.

Happiness is creating something beautiful together.

Happiness is being outside with nature.

“Indoors, we tend to use only two senses, our eyes and our ears. Outside is where we can smell the flowers, taste the fresh air, look at the changing colours of the trees, hear the birds singing and feel the breeze on our skin. And when we open up our senses, we begin to connect to the natural world.” Shinrin-Yoku

Happiness from a tender hug.

Happiness from holding hands.

Happiness from building a sand castle.

Happiness is following your passion.

Happiness is opening new doors.

Happiness is a mud bath during the Holi Festival in Delhi, India.

Happiness of a smiling family together in Bago, Myanmar.

Sometimes happiness is licking a lollipop.

The happiness of becoming a monk in Ayyuthaya, Thailand.

Happiness is finding something unexpected like this Hibiscus in my brother’s garden.

Happiness from exploring a new destination.

The wonderful happiness of playing with your friends.

Happiness when encountering smiles from absolute strangers.

Happiness from a sisters’ love.

Happiness from a glass of wine, salami, cheese, and an ocean view.

Happiness from seeing it spelled out right in front of you.

For more on happiness and well-being go tohttp://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/ and the 2018 Best Countries Reort.https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/methodology

PHOTOS: Dick Gentry, and ‘Girls painting’ by my niece’s husband “G”. Not to be used without permission.