In Denmark, finding happiness can be as easy as riding a bicycle. Healthy balance of work and private life is a big part of Danish culture.
Danes are proud of the fact that they are the happiest nation in the world. Their government supports a 37-week-long lunch break with five weeks of paid annual leave, extended and paid maternity leave, as well as flexible schedules and home and child allowance. Danes spend less than a third of their time working, and are still more productive than most of EU and US members.
People want to work there and make their commitments as best they can. Danes are responsibly doing a job description and assuming responsibility for the done job.
Danes do not want to put the family in the first place. Families love to hang out with friends in the home atmosphere or go out to dinner in the restaurant. They like food and drinks and there is another part of happiness in it. Due to the shortage of light generally in the north of Europe, they love candles that create a pleasant atmosphere. “Hygge” effect.
Leisure is spent alongside others including the Danish term “hygge”, a word for cozy social gatherings and intimate socializing with family and friends.
“Hygge” during winter involves feeling in front of a fireplace after spending an hours at a Christmas fair during a cold winter day. During the spring and summer, whenever sun goes out, “hygge” involves gathering in parks, by the beach, or in cafes. “Hygge” is something that Danes tries to fulfill, all times, in small pubs and cafes, or for a mildly lit dinner with family and friends.
Confidence is another key factor in the Danish recipe of happiness. Believing in the government, believing in a workplace, kindergarten, and schools that care about your children, believing that you are safe, with no crime and government corruption, police, and friendly neighbors. Mothers leave their babies unattended in the wheelchair outside the cafes and people can leave their house doors unlocked in nature. And perhaps the Danish beloved bike is actually the best symbol of Danish happiness. Many Danes, those who can afford to buy a car, choose a bike – simple and unsafe machines that satisfy you.
What is your concept of happiness? Are you happy? Ask yourself or simply buy a ticket for Denmark or other Scandinavian countries and get some answers on their example. If you do not want to travel, read the books “Hygge” and “Lykke”, maybe they help you to understand the concept of happiness.
It seems to me that Danes find happiness in small things. I’m off to them. For me happiness is a smell of coffee in the morning, the smile of the two favorite people in my life, my sister and my mom, hanging with boys watching football or taste of gin-tonic on my palate.
Written by Dora Jagodić
Sources:
www.monitor.hr/vijesti/evo-zasto-su-danci-najsretniji-ljudi-na-svijetu/272242/
https://zadovoljna.dnevnik.hr/clanak/poruke-za-medjunarodni-dan-srece—470434.html
http://fama.com.hr/lykke-zasto-su-danci-najsretniji-ljudi-na-svijetu/
https://www.posao.hr/clanci/vijesti/zanimljivosti/danci-su-najsretniji-ljudi-na-svijetu/5519/
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