INTERNATIONAL DAY OF HAPPINESS, Togo the biggest gainers in 2018

One evening a Cherokee elder told his grandson about the battle that goes on inside people’s heads. He said;

“My son, the battle is between the two” wolves” that live inside us all.

One is unhappy. It is fear, worry, anger, jealousy, sorrow, self-pity, sentiment and inferiority. Then there is happiness. It is joy, love, hope, serenity, kindness, generosity, truth and compassion.

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather which “wolf” wins? The old Cherokee simply replied, the one you feed. From this short narrative, we can say that the happiest people are not the ones with the most things, power, friends, riches, attention, or even love. Neither are they the ones with the least. Happy people are those who show appreciation and contentment for whatever that comes their way and focus on loving life consistently.

Sometimes it might seem as though everything is going wrong in one’s life but if a critical look and observation would be done, we would always realize there is something to be happy about and be grateful for.   We should learn to appreciate the life each day brings us and be happy for it.  We should not let our happiness depend only on when we have in abundance or feel loved or respected by others.  The happiness we feel only depends on us and not on any other thing or person.

As each day presented to us should be seen as a divine gift which should encourage us to look beyond the imperfections and focus on everything that has been made perfect like the air we breathe, the food we eat and the beautiful nature around us.  In order to be happy we should try as much as possible to always be happy in our present moment and find reasons to be happy amidst unhappy moments. We should let the joy and happiness we feel infest others like an infectious or contagious disease. We should also remember that being happy is a therapy for the soul which makes us look healthy and well.

Life is full of challenges and being happy should not be one of them.

#bethechangetobringhappiness.

This year’s World Happiness Report doesn’t have too many surprises — Scandinavian countries occupy many of the smiliest slots. But there’s a West African country that’s getting rave reviews for its happiness. Togo, which ranked at the very bottom of the 2015 World Happiness Report, comes in this year as the “biggest gainer,” the report says. That means Togo is the country with the most-improved level of happiness in the world.

Linda Adzeoda

Communication Officer.