RSS 2.0 FeedOctober 14, 2010, Weekly editorial
The happiest people in the world
GROOVIN’: Jam Fitness and Dance students got their groove on during a song called “Freeze” at the 26th Bellmore Family Street Fair and Festival last week, presented by the Chamber of Commerce of the Bellmores. The dancers are, from left, Julianna Codispoti, Peyton Fishman, Julia Reisner, Shellie Mittleberg and Jessica Rosenfeld.
According to polls, and perhaps more prominently, according to Oprah Winfrey, the Danes are the happiest people in the world. Many sociologists and investigative reporters have tried to find out why. They have traveled to the “land of fairy tales” and interviewed the natives.
But I have not had to look any farther than my own home and the example my Danish-born but now happily American 95-year-old father gives. And I hope to follow his example on the way to achieving happiness myself. Here, in random order, are the precepts I have observed because, as they say, your children learn from what you do far better than from what you say:
1. Follow a regular schedule.Get up at the same time every day. Read the newspaper. Get outside and get some exercise. Take a bicycle if you can. Walk your errands if you can. Also, sit a while and meditate and enjoy nature. Do some chores. Read. Take a nap. Talk to friends and family by phone and e-mail. Watch the news.
2. Live with integrity, be generous when you can, and you will have fewer regrets.
3. Appreciate the sunny days.
4. Eat small portions and drink only water with meals, except for an occasional glass of wine. Brush your teeth after every meal.
5. Go on adventures. Look up old friends. Travel to new places and revisit the ones with special memories.
6. Wear galoshes in the rain. Change out of wet clothes as soon as you get inside. If you do get sick, bundle up and rest and drink warm tea.
7. Make a tradition out of gathering old friends for a celebration once a year for no particular reason except to enjoy catching up.
8. Dress for each occasion and to show respect for your work and your colleagues. Be on time. Do your job well, always thinking of it as a calling: for example, for the newspaper, thinking of the readers in making every decision.
9. Waste not, want not. Turn the lights off when you leave a room. Use slippers and old clothes at home. Acquire only those objects that feed your mind, not your status. 10. Enjoy the company of those you do not need to impress and avoid the company of unpleasant people and people who are full of themselves.
The Danes have a word that cannot be completely translated into English. “Hyggelig” means a cozy room with candles, warm food and drink, and good company. But it can also be used to describe the kind of person my father is, someone who makes you feel welcome, relaxed, intelligent – and glad to be alive. – Linda Laursen Toscano
