Dear #Positivity Friends,

You may have noticed that Finland was recently named “the world’s happiest country” for the eighth year in a row. Impressive, sure, but how do we know they’re so happy?

It seems that Gallup, which produces the annual World Happiness Report, conducts a survey each year of residents of 147 countries around the globe. Survey participants are asked to imagine a ladder with the top of the ladder (10) representing the best possible life and the bottom of the latter (0) representing the worst possible life. Then they are asked: On which step of the ladder would you say you personally feel you stand at this time?

The survey responses are then analyzed alongside additional data such as each country’s Gross Domestic Product per capita, life expectancy, freedom, social supports, and other quality of life factors. Then Gallup reports the findings, which journalists and scientists eagerly pore over each year looking for clues to the source of Finland’s fabled happiness. Many agree it’s thanks to a strong sense of community, an abiding connection to nature and its cultural heritage, and a healthy diet and active lifestyle. And don’t forget the saunas. It’s said the country boasts more than one sauna for every two Finns. These folks clearly know how to chillax!



While I could ponder that sauna statistic all day, right now I’m thinking more about that happiness survey. It’s easier to answer “How happy are you?” than “Are you happy?”, isn’t it? Placing yourself on a spectrum of happiness is inherently more hopeful than assigning a fixed yes or no to your happiness. Go ahead and ask yourself, on a scale of 0 to 10, “How happy am I?” Then think of one small thing you can do right now to improve your outlook. It might be as simple as taking a 10-minute catnap. Or eating your lunch in the park. Or taking a break from social media. Or, like our Finnish friends, going to the gym for a sauna after work. Some days, it may be hard to say you’re happy. But I guarantee you can find a way to be happier any day of the week!

As always, I hope you are enjoying this newsletter. Please pass it along and encourage your family and friends to sign up.



With hope and positivity,

A few weeks back, Pensacola, Florida shark fisherman Andrew Smith found himself involved in an unexpected rescue operation one afternoon on the beach. He was using a drone to set out shark bait when a young woman came running down the beach yelling that her friend was caught in a rip tide. The teenaged swimmer was about a hundred yards out and had been fighting the tide for more than five minutes—time was running out. Thinking fast, Smith tied a flotation device to his drone and flew it out to the swimmer. On the first try, his aim was off and he missed his target. On the next go, Smith focused on how the winds were blowing and dropped the flotation device right in front of her. She grabbed it and held on until emergency personnel rescued her not long after. “It was nerve-wracking. I was shaking pretty badly,” Smith said. “If it wasn’t for that second drop, the EMS, the cops, and the lifeguards said she wouldn’t have made it.”

How to Be a Grown Up: The 14 Essential Skills You Didn't Know You Needed (Until Just Now) 

by Raffi Grinberg

As advertised, this book is a great gift for the young graduate in your life. Author Raffi Grinberg, who teaches the popular “Adulting 101” course at Boston College, provides a smart, practical guide to everything they don’t teach you in school about getting a job, managing your money, dealing with family, filing your taxes…all the tricky stuff that can make being an adult so perplexing. His insights are so fresh and timely, though, even an oldster sneaking a read will take away an eye-opening nugget of wisdom or two.