International Day of Happiness

 International Day of Happiness

As the sun sets on this beautiful spring day in London town and most of Southern England, you're tempted to think that on the day before the official spring equinox, life couldn't get any better or indeed sweeter. But it is undoubtedly sweet and always will be regardless of the sinister distractions around the rest of the world. We are still surrounded by war, discord, suffering, pain, hatred and those with a bitter resentment of the land they claim, nay less insist, is theirs by historical territorial right.

For Ukraine and Russia read Hamas and Israel. It is time to lay down the law to Hamas. Your evil and nefarious misdeeds and brutal atrocities have to be eliminated at all costs immediately. Withdraw your arms and ammunition and leave the rest of the world alone. For Russia and Vladimir Putin cut it out. The ugly soundtrack of incessant gun fire and wholesale destruction has to stop pronto before civilised voices have to shout out quite vehemently. Enough is enough. And this is where today makes its welcome presence felt across the world.

Ladies and Gentlemen today is the International Day of Happiness and it's time to remind us of the essential virtues of happiness, smiling, laughing, giggling, celebrating life, kindness and generosity. This may sound like one of the statements of the obvious from those who believe quite strongly that there's no charge for happiness, it's free and it's a natural function requiring no effort whatsoever. It's just a state of mind that should be uplifting, positive, cheerful and just being in the moment if you're having one of those days at work where everything seemed to go wrong as soon as the boss walked into the office.

So let's pretend that the company you're employed by has never been in a healthier financial state for years. Just look at those highly impressive sales figures, the massively encouraging profit margins compared to last year and the accounts department look as though they'd quite happily dance around their desks every day given half the chance. It's time to forget about the past and look to the future. Your family are the best in the world, your friends have never been less than amicable and there can be nothing to complain about.

And of course we should never forget about tomorrow because hope will spring eternal, the air of renewal and regeneration can almost be smelt, felt and touched. Spring means so much to so many people. On Sunday the clocks go forward once again indicating that now may be the time to acknowledge happiness as the simplest emotion of all. The days will become longer, the cuckoos are composing their most glorious melodies and the dulcet tones of spring will be heard in every neighbourhood throughout the world. What is there not to like about the International Day of Happiness?

Ideally every day should be devoted to unrelenting happiness, deliriously happy vibes, shaking each other's hand firmly, switching on the most unforgettable smile, laughing your head off unashamedly and just indulging in the kind of activities that just make you feel it's good to be alive. And yet we tend to take our everyday lives for granted, we expose ourselves to our vulnerabilities, dwell on the past for much longer than we should and then fall into a despondent slump because we haven't met our own impossibly lofty expectations.

So this is the point when perhaps we look out across the window on the world and wonder if we could achieve a permanent happiness if we set our minds to it. Of course everyday living is a gift and should always be appreciated and recognised as such. Undoubtedly, here in Britain, we live in  the most privileged and comfortable world. The world of work has always been problematic and challenging, pressures and deadlines almost excruciatingly unbearable. Bills have to be paid, children properly schooled, educated, clothed, fed and watered. But then you remember about the fundamental importance of happiness.

You suddenly recall those blissful moments of contentment when the world is about street festivals, colourful carnivals, those wonderful gospel singers who always make the world a special place in local Sunday churches. You remember the family parties from long ago when the fragrant smell of burgers at barbecues brought everybody together, the groaning tables of food and drink, the kids constantly running in and out of the kitchen before embarking on another expedition into the living room.

You look back to idyllic childhood when you were allowed to play out on the local back roads for the duration of your school summer holidays. You cast your minds back to that lovely old lime green bike with stabilisers, hurtling around at top speed before just dropping said bicycle onto the ground with a perfect sense of exhilaration. It was a time of your life which you must have thought would last forever because you were kid and everything was just fantastic. And so it was and always should be.

It's easy to assume that happiness is just a state of mind because we tend to forget about the simplicities of every day living, the fact that maybe we can detach ourselves from the depressing narratives we're always subjected to on the daily news agenda. We see bloodshed and murder, genocide and barbarism on every killing field and can't help but be deeply affected and moved by the lurid imagery, appalled by the sickening sensation in the pit of our stomach when it happens over and over again.

So today was International Day of Happiness because we should have sought light relief from such horrendous atrocities. There has to be a mental escape from a troubled world, an opportunity to just watch our favourite comedian, comedienne, our all time best TV comedy shows for hour upon hour and just become liberated from tragedy once and for all. Go on let yourself go. Just laugh because you know you should. It's the finest medicine of them all, the antidote that costs nothing. Be happy because your favourite music on the radio has just been launched for the rest of your life and that's just irresistible.

We can do happiness. We know we can because it  should come naturally to you. You were born with chuckle muscles to quote a famous old comedian from Liverpool called Ken Dodd. You were happy when you passed your driving test, ecstatic when your university exams were revealed and you could finally do the kind of job that would guarantee monied security indefinitely. You were just glad to be there on the day when the first crocuses, tulips and daffodils popped out of their winter hibernation and just loved those stunning blue skies and warm sunshine which were just around the corner.

International Day of Happiness has to be acknowledged because it is the best of all feelings, that outpouring of delight when a new baby is born or when somebody tells you that you have the most wonderful grandson and you're a grandpa for the first time. You are blessed by good health, a wonderfully loving and supportive family and wife who will always be your source of inspiration. So go on have a good, old fashioned belly laugh, seize every day, celebrate it with an event that leaves you with a warm glow of satisfaction and always remember that we all have that innate capacity to laugh.