Author and journalist Helen Russell has been looking at the positive characteristics of a country's population to see what makes them happy and found 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.
It could happen anywhere at any time. It's often unexpected, but almost never unappreciated. Most people, at one time or another, have been on the receiving end of a random1 act of kindness - that moment of pure altruism2 when a complete stranger stops to offer aid, generosity3 or compassion4. You may even be in a moment of dire5 need. In a sometimes callous6 world where people can be so focused on what they're doing, a random act of kindness can make all the difference.
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.
