End the Year with Happiness

Keeping up with the Joneses has been considered kosher much, much before social media and bragging on it became a thing. The World Happiness Report, 2019 is a bit humbling for us in that context: India has slipped seven positions from last year and stands at 140 out of 156 countries. Worse, we have been pushed way below Pakistan (gasp!), China, Bhutan—and even Nepal!

But seriously, we don’t need experts to tell us that we could do with a bit of happiness in the world, though there’s enough research to fill a library on the science of happiness. There are now universities in India that offer curricula and pedagogies to teach the subject.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a proponent of positive psychology, said “being in flow” brings us maximum happiness. “The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times ... [they] usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something worthwhile,” he had written.

This is not to say ‘just being’—relaxing with your kid and/or pet, staring at the hills or waking up to remember that you don’t need to go to work—does not spark joy. But then happiness is not a rigid state of being—it works in different ways for each of us. Make it even better—read our cover story.

It’s Christmas time, the season of giving. ‘Pockets Full of Love’ is a revelation of just how each of us can make a difference. Please do not miss ‘The Magic of Christmas’: It will warm the cockles of your heart.

Seep in the season’s spirit and spread the cheer!