They can be relatively7 insignificant8. Hannah Bailey from London, for example, told the Metro9 newspaper about how she was given her fruit and vegetable shopping for free. The seller did her a kindness when it emerged she didn't have any change to pay. She was happy about it all day.
The city of Naples has long had a tradition called 'caffè sospeso'. When buying coffee, a person who has recently been lucky would purchase two cups but only drink one, leaving the second one anonymously10, out of the goodness of their heart, for a poor person to claim for free. This tradition is now more common worldwide.
However, in some cases, these little acts can be a matter of life and death. Take, for example, the unnamed commuter11, who in June 2018 fell off a station platform onto an electric railway track in Toronto, Canada. A quick-thinking, but even now unknown, bystander selflessly leapt down to pull him to safety.
Or Jonny Benjamin, who in London in 2008 was persuaded not to commit suicide by a passer-by. He had been considering jumping from a bridge. He later found the Good Samaritan and thanked him.He may one day find a way to pay him back in kind – though that's not the point.
So, why do it? Often, the acts aren't reciprocated12. The people never meet again. According to UK charity The Mental Health Foundation, acts like these can "give our lives new purpose, show us other perspectives on our own problems and even make us feel euphoric."
Japan to be one of the most content. She told the BBC that this was due to their concept of wabi-sabi – "this traditional Japanese concept around celebrating imperfection… it's this idea that there is a beauty in ageing, it's to be celebrated7 rather than trying to disguise it." So, basically, we should be happy with who we are and rejoice in our faults and individuality. That's something to put a smile on our faces!
But if you're feeling down in the dumps because your home country doesn't have a happiness concept to follow, consider some self-help ideas that the BBC programme Hacking8 Happiness has been looking into. These include being virtuous9, finding something to be passionate10 about, enjoying the here and now and being altruistic11 – helping12 others.
However, our pursuit of happiness could make us miserable13 as we try to meet society’s expectations and goals, making us anxious and stressed. Also, having too little experience of negative emotions can make us less adept14 at facing new challenges.
