Notice: The article below is written for Uusi Rovaniemi newspaper, property of Lapin Kansa Oy.
For many Finns it is a mystery why I moved to Finland and specifically in Rovaniemi. For me, it is an enigma how come a small city on the North is so international and diverse; a modern metropolis in a small scale. Well, I can note down many pros in my personal list but I will let the numbers talk. Recently, I came across a study from the University of Leicester. Adrian White, an analytic social psychologist analyzed various data in order to create a global projection of subjective well-being. For this study, 80,000 people were questioned worldwide and data has been analyzed in relation to health, wealth and access to education. The end result was the first world map of happiness.
Finland ranks sixth among the happiest nations around the globe. Hyvä, Suomi! Finland, in my opinion, provides a certain quality of life, which increases the feeling of happiness.
Can you even really define happiness? I know my idea of happiness has changed over the years, I think happiness means different things to different people. Although happiness is subjective I think there are certain things that make pretty a large amount of individuals happy. The concept of happiness, or satisfaction with life, is currently a major area of research in economics and psychology. Most important factors to happiness are good health, harmonious family and stable marriage (or relationship). Career and satisfaction with work, good infrastructure, social security system, also positively influence the degree of happiness.
Language speaks the truth. In German, for instance, there is a special bond between the word happiness and of good luck (Gluck/ glucklich= happiness/ lucky). Therefore, there is some hint in happiness related to good luck, which means an unpredicted positive turn out of situations.
Definitely Finns and international visitors have less stress, since everyday issues and public affairs can easily be handled in a calm, negotiable atmosphere. Finland is not the Happy land; it is not a Utopia -as a friend of mine once said- but I strongly believe that it is a promising land which allows every individual to progress in their pursue of happiness by opportunities within a welfare state.
And, yes, I admit that here I start to believe Finland is, indeed, a blessed place. People here managed to integrate Bentham’s formula in their lives, ‘the greatest happiness of the greatest number’. To my eyes everyone looks calm and beautiful but that is just through my perspective.
The socioeconomics of Finland are exactly built up with the idea to make everyone happy. Finland is democratic society, every member is equal and is given equal opportunities to pursue his or her interests, to express his or her opinion and a good living standard in the society is guaranteed. This model has worked out very well for Finland, not only is it the 6th happiest country in the world but is also one of the countries with the lowest crime and corruption rate in the whole world.
The previous generations of Finns, those who protected their country and rebuilt it, have also cared for the environment and left the current Finns with clean natural resources. And who isn’t in good mood when enjoying a walk in the forest, picking berries or ice fishing up north in a sunny day?
Finns, nowadays, are people who enjoy a clear, cozy and practical household and nature. I realize that being surrounded by kind people means a lot –I am not saying that all Finns are best friends with each other– however I think this friendly community where strangers are helpful to each other despite language barriers is really a great place to live and explains why people are happy living here or always come back. And as a friend says: ‘Kaikki on kaunista josta silmä pitää’, which means everything is beautiful once the eye likes the view.
Little things that may raise happiness:
1 Have a positive attitude. And laugh, it increases your setotonin levels. Germans have a saying: ‘Day during which you didn’t laugh, consider it wasted.’
2 Enjoy the sunny weather by taking long walks. If you have experienced Rovaniemi’s winter, you must cherish there sunny days.
3 Start up a conversation. By that I do not mean phone calls rather than face-to-face acts. There are many Finns who wish to talk to you and discover your culture but simply don’t know how to do small talk.
4 Travel. There are so many places to visit in this vast country.
5 Eat vegetables. Greeks always accompany meals which huge portions of salad, whilst Finns eat only 100 gr of vegetables a week.
