AMID THE craziness of an online semester, I found myself coming back to one particularly fascinating reading from my social sciences class: The World Happiness Report. Released annually, the report attempts to rank cities around the world by their “subjective well-being” and looks into how their environment influences their happiness.
The current ranking is topped by Scandinavian cities such as Helsinki, which is located in Finland, and Aarhus in Denmark. Unlike most of the world’s population, these cities and their people generally do not dedicate their time to becoming tycoons or billionaires. Rather, they strive for a balance of having just enough to fulfill basic needs.
Danes in particular have an interesting outlook on happiness and how it is achieved. They identify two different types of happiness that people experience in their lifetime. The first type, gladness, is the everyday kind of happiness that involves the simple joys of life: A good book, your favorite movie, or even a delicious meal. “Glad” is what we are used to feeling on a regular basis.
Lykke, on the other hand, describes a much rarer, unique kind of happiness that is only felt a few times in a person’s lifetime. It is described as an intense, yet elusive feeling that can be likened to catching lighting in a bottle. To experience it, one must be truly content with how life is going at that moment.
Unfortunately, I believe that far too many people nowadays find themselves stuck in endless pursuit of what they imagine will give them their lykke. They become misguided by material goods and cheap thrills that only ever bring instant gratification, instead of the raw feeling lykke should be. What’s worse is that this pursuit ultimately views true happiness as something quantifiable, reducing it to nothing more than greed.
From then on it becomes an unending cycle, driven by excess. For a person motivated by greed, there will always be more: More money, more possessions, and more accolades. I have been guilty of this, and there’s no shame in admitting it, but I think it’s time that we redefine the pursuit of happiness as something that primarily entails a selfless outlook. On a personal level, I’ve done away with the idea that I have to gain more than what I need or already have to make myself happy. It wasn’t easy, but leaving the superficiality of it all has given me peace.
I’ve accepted that true happiness is not something that is seized, but experienced. It is not a feeling that is found in selfish desires, but in a life lived with purpose and agency. I have only experienced my personal lykke a handful of times in my short life—through unforgettable moments with the most authentic of people. On the days where I find myself at my lowest, it’s the happy memories that are there to remind me of the love I am capable of giving to others. I think that is what makes happiness, in its truest form, such a beautiful thing.
