For 6 years now, Finland has been ranked the world's happiest country. Psychologist and happiness researcher Frank Martela shares phrases residents always use.
You may be surprised to learn that Finnish people are often the first to question this characterization. Our national self-image is that we're quiet, introverted and somewhat melancholy types. This doesn't exactly align with being thetend to be less happy. So if true happiness is best achieved indirectly, without paying too much attention to it, that is something Finnish people excel at.. But our culture and values also play a key role in how we approach life and think about happiness.
We believe that setbacks are a fact of life. You will experience pain, disappointment and even tragedy. This isn't something we're frightened of because we know we have the tools we need to emotionally weather these challenges.. He was an American, but his philosophy of "meliorism," — essentially that things are neither the worst or the best but always "capable of improvement" — is an attitude that many Finnish people, myself included, share.
With that in mind, I prefer a modified version of this phrase: "Everyone is the center forward of their own happiness." Most Finnish people understand that while there are aspects of our lives we can influence or change, there are so many things we simply can't control. So there is no point in envying those who are happy right now, even if we are struggling.
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