How To Be Happy
On Thursday, March 15, 2018 the San Francisco Chronicle published an article by Jari Tanner titled, “Nation tops 2018 global happiness index; U.S. 18th“. Turns out that the happiest people in the world live in Finland. And not only Finns. “Relatively homogenous Finland has about 300,000 foreigners and residents with foreign roots, out of its 5.5 million people.” The article points out – “The Report ranked 156 countries by happiness levels, based on factors such as life expectancy, social support and corruption.” It “also evaluated 117 countries by the happiness and well-being of their immigrants. Europe’s Nordic nations, none particularly diverse, have dominated the index since it first was produced in 2012. In reaching No. 1, Finland nudged neighboring Norway into second place. Rounding out the Top 10 are Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden and Australia. The United States fell to 18th place from 14th last year.” When I started writing this story, I noticed in a pile of unread magazines on my table, the cover of a National Geographic from November 2017 – “The Search for HAPPINESS. What we can learn from Costa Rica, Denmark and Singapore – the most joyful places on the planet.” As you might notice the title identified “happiness” with “joy”, i.e. a place full of joy.
For me, those two similar feelings are not the same. When we visited Cuba in 2013, someone in our group asked, “Are Cubans happy?” The answer was “No, but they are content”. At the same time, judging by the images I captured, many express joy on their faces. In spite of the economic scarcity created by the Castro regime, it seems that Cubans are joyful people. When I was selecting the title for my next book I decided on “Retirement Solutions for Smart People. 5 Easy Ways to Enjoy Your Golden Age.” I purposely did not call it “How to be Happy at Your Retirement.” You might know someone who is not happy with their life circumstances, but believe me, if they would be introduced to a well-behaved puppy, their lives would be filled with joy. One does not have to be happy all the time, but even a smile from a stranger can bring a lot of joy. Or even better, a lick on the face from a puppy. I guarantee you will not stop laughing from joy.
P.S. I am sure that owning my photo-story book “42 Encounters with Dog Lovers” will bring you and your friends a lot of happiness. It is going to be available at the end of May. Meanwhile, you can make me very happy by pre-ordering the book through encounterspublishing.com. I hope that the four images of these dog lovers will make you happy as well.
P.P.S. One of my readers sent his dog story:
In my freshman year at Cal (1951), I took care of a then famous, campus dog. It was very, very huge and would not leave my side at any time. At classes, at meals, etc etc. Dogs were not allowed to the movies. I would put on dark glasses, tell them this was my seeing dog and they would let me in. True story.
Ron Kaufman
Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile And Please SHARE It With A Friend!
Cheers,
