In 2012 the United Nations General Assembly designated 20th March as International Day of Happiness in recognition of the importance of happiness and well-being as public policy objectives as well as human goals and aspirations around the world. Since then, a number of activities designed to raise awareness of this day have taken place all over the world every year. This year, the UN have teamed up with Pharrell Williams and Google to create the world’s largest ‘Happy Party’.
Frederika Roberts, The Happiness Speaker, firmly believes that working on our happiness benefits all areas of our lives. She celebrates UN International Day of Happiness this year by researching what she calls the ‘Little Happiness Ingredients’: The little things that contribute to individuals people’s happiness.
“Happiness is too important to be left to chance”, says Frederika. “It is a choice we make.”
The Little Happiness Ingredients Project launched on 20th February and, since then, over 1,000 responses to the question “What is your favourite ‘Little Happiness Ingredient’?” have flooded in from the UK, Canada, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, Australia and New Zealand. Frederika’s aim is that this project will help participants to re-discover the things they love doing, just for fun and that, when the final results are published, we can all discover some more ‘Little Happiness Ingredients’ we may want to build into our lives.
Frederika adds that “discovering our ‘Little Happiness Ingredients’ is a small but significant step towards working on our own happiness.”
Both of Frederika’s daughters were born with severe, complex and life-threatening heart conditions. Between them, they have had two cardiac arrests, three open heart surgeries and numerous other hospital stays. Frederika, her husband and her two daughters have not just survived these ordeals, but found a way to thrive and enjoy what at times seemed impossible: a ‘normal’ family life, full of laughter, fun, school runs, work, arguments, banter and teenage angst! Frederika has turned her experiences into inner strength and determination. Through her speaking, workshops (including Laughter Yoga sessions) and writing, she shares what she has learnt with schools, businesses and charities so that others can also work on their happiness and reap the rewards in their personal and working lives. Frederika’s book, ‘Recipe for Happiness: 9 essential ingredients for a happy life’, is available in Kindle and paperback formats from www.recipe-for-happiness.co.uk
Entries to the ‘Little Happiness Ingredients’ Project will be received until 2pm GMT on Thursday 19th March 2015 and initial findings will be published on 20th March, UN International Day of Happiness. The link for entries and for preliminary findings is: http://happiness-speaker.co.uk/lhiproject.