On the 20th of March, the whole world will celebrate the International Day of Happiness. This is an initiative rolled out by the United Nations in 2012 to recognise the importance of happiness in the lives of people around the world. To observe this celebration internally, our Learning & Development team will be hosting a virtual webinar with Clinical Psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi Psy D (US). This webinar will be a great opportunity for us to gain an insight into the key ingredients of a purposeful life of authentic happiness and what gets in the way of living it.
MARCOM has also distributed some happiness day cookies to all employees in our divisions. We hope that you have already received and enjoyed these delicious treats. You have also received, along with the cookies, some small gratitude journals. I encourage you all to use these to participate in a short exercise, which I will explain to you now.
Before we start, do we know what happiness actually means?
Scholars advocate that happiness is one of the words that we perceive wrongly. We think happiness is one thing, but it is not. There are actually 3 different types of happiness. Surprised?! Well, read on to find out what they are.
The first is happiness from experiences; which relates to the happy feeling you get from special or unique experiences – be it a visit to your favourite theme park, being around loved ones, or going on a vacation. All these give us a boost of happiness. However, the happiness we get from experiences is considered short-lived, as it lasts for the duration of that experience only.
The second type is happiness from growth; which is linked to the feeling of fulfillment we get when we successfully complete a task/project/challenge or degree. Essentially, it comes when we think of how much we have grown or accomplished. This is one of the most powerful forms of happiness, and it is the same joyful state that kids experience when they learn a new skill, like learning to walk.
The third form is happiness from meaning; which is when we find meaning in the lives we live. As humans, we feel great value when we extend our help to others – parents are one example. Despite the difficulties of parenthood, parents usually feel a great sense of gratification and fulfillment when they are helping their children.
How can we truly experience the sense of happiness? The answer is by practicing gratitude. Being conscious, thankful, and appreciative of the factors that have instigated this happy feeling in us.
By doing that, we are positively influencing our feeling of wellbeing, as scientists have discovered that gratitude has the highest correlation with human wellbeing than any other trait.
So, this is how we can all practice gratitude.
I would like to ask all of you to take 5 minutes of your time – it can be early in the morning before starting work, or at night just before going to bed.
Deeply think about and write down in your gratitude journals 1 to 3 incidents or things that happened in the past 24-48 hours that you are grateful for in your:
- Personal life: perhaps that beautiful breakfast that you enjoyed with your family before starting your workday, or the quality time you spent with friends last evening.
- Professional career: could be that project you nailed and got recognised for amongst your peers, or even the paycheck that you earned at the end of the month.
- Yourself:it is easy to fall into the trap of not appreciating yourself. But remember that you owe it to yourself to be grateful for the amazing person that you are, the great help that you so willingly offer to your kids, or the supportive teammate that you are to your colleagues.
I encourage you all to get into the habit of practicing gratitude and appreciating the boundless blessings that you have around you. Once you are well able to do that, the sense of happiness you will feel will be powerful, long lasting, and much more meaningful.
I wish you all a very happy and blessed day!
Sincerely,
Marwa Kaabour