Today is the National Day of Joy -- a reminder to find happiness in everyday moments regardless of what may be happening in the world.
Celebrated on the last Wednesday in June, the National Day of Joy was established in 2019 to emphasize the importance of individuals finding joy, no matter their age or condition, to boost their overall physical, mental and emotional health.
This year's theme is built around the "Power of Positivity," emphasizing the notion that age is merely a number and regardless of birth year, the human spirit is important and can remain youthful. It's a reminder that no matter what the calendar says, you can and should reconnect with what brings you joy.
This National Day of Joy, everyone is encouraged to celebrate the positive and rejoice in the freedom, joy and newfound experiences that come not only today, but every day. Taking time to identify and acknowledge the positive elements of our daily lives that bring joy is an important way to improve our physical and emotional health as well as overall well-being, according to Comfort Keepers, an in-home care provider that helped establish the day.
Finding the silver lining in any situation can have a positive mental health impact. Laughter, in particular, has been shown to mitigate the negative effects of stress, improve mood, curb anxiety and depression and in some cases, help relieve pain.
According to the Mayo Clinic, laughter enhances your intake of oxygen and stimulates your heart, lungs and organs. Laughter also releases endorphins into your brain, relieves your stress response and soothes tension. Beyond a quick pick-me-up, finding joy and laughter improves your immune system by reducing negative thoughts that can increase stress and decrease the body’s immune response. Finding joy also helps to improve mood, ease anxiety and even helps to lessen depression.
Celebrating the day is easy. Take time -- whether it's five minutes, 15 minutes, an hour or a whole day -- to focus on an activity or activities that bring you joy. You can also spread that joy by smiling and saying "Hello" to a stranger.
Finding joy this year is especially important, as the latest edition of Ipsos' Global Happiness report finds there's been a slight dip in happiness year-on-year as economic and political clouds loom overhead.
According to the report, a strong majority (71% on average across 30 countries) say taking all things together they're rather happy. That's down slightly from last year, when 73%, reported being happy. But, happiness levels are now up eight percentage points from the first year of the COVID-19 crisis in 2020 (63%). Still, happiness levels are below historic highs of 77% reached in the first year of Ipsos' happiness polling in 2011, which stayed steady at 77% through 2013.
The survey shows family and friends are the aspects of people's lives where they find the most satisfaction: the vast majority of all parents (84%) say they're satisfied with their children and almost three-quarters (73%) of people are satisfied with their friends.