28 Jan The “true” meaning of happiness…what do you think?
There are many definitions of "happiness" and as far as I'm concerned, they're all right!
But this article by Roberta Hurtig from the Huffington Post posits an interesting and different perspective; one that's not necessarily "right" for everyone but one that's definitely worth giving some consideration to. It begins like this…
It is unlikely for the words "suicide" and "happy" to be used in the same sentence.
One is almost always mentioned with descriptions that include the words "tragic," "unexpected" and "sad." Whereas the other represents something we all desire and are in pursuit of achieving. Nonetheless, the connection between the two words exists. The true essence of happiness comes from feeling connected, understood and heard — feelings that are also the building blocks of suicide prevention.
Creating that connection was the design behind Samaritans' new Happier Boston campaign. We want to promote the benefits of befriending, which is at the core of our services — outside of our 24/7 crisis phone room, and outside of our active suicide interventions. Everyone deserves to be happy, including those who struggle, and everyone benefits from an increase in human connection, not just those who are suicidal. Through a series of acts of kindness and different "social experiments," we intend to invite a smile and remind the community that Samaritans is always there, 24 hours a day, to listen to those in need.
We targeted one of our first social experiments toward the toughest group of Bostonians we could think of: the morning MBTA commuter, in the winter. Recently a group of Samaritans volunteers stood at North Station in bright colored shirts with signs, welcoming passengers as they arrived to the platform. To be honest, we were unsure of the response that we were going to receive from this demographic. Ok, in truth, we were afraid we'd be met with frowns, if not entirely ignored. But to our surprise, we started to get high-fives from strangers, some taking pictures and others shouting,"Thank you — you should be here every day." Not only did this event make a positive impact on the commuters, but it also affected our group positively as well. We felt energized and filled with gratitude to do this work. We couldn't help but grin from ear to ear and that energy was contagious.
…and you can keep reading the full and original article HERE