NEW YORK, NY: March 20, 2014 – The United Nations celebrates its second annual International Day of Happiness today, by examining the topic from a variety of angles: the impact of happiness on global communities; how media and technology are re-shaping our understanding of happiness and how entrepreneurs across the globe are spreading it as a key to success. Live Happy, a new magazine dedicated to making the world a happier place, partnered with the UN’s Department of Public Information (DPI) and several NGOs to create this day-long series of events.
H.E. Ambassador Petersen of Denmark, currently ranked the world’s happiest country, and H.E. Ambassador Carlos Enrique Garcia Gonzalez of El Salvador are sponsoring the panel events and luncheon throughout the day. Accompanying the dignitaries are representatives from Africa, China, Israel, Egypt, and youth reps whose presence is a UN focus. Designed to explore the many dimensions of happiness throughout the world and underscore the importance of happiness as an indicator of personal and global well-being, the events take the form of two panel discussions in the General Assembly and a luncheon presentation in the Delegates Dining Room.
- DPI Morning Briefing: Happiness Happening: Impacting Communities Globally (General Assembly)
- Invitation-Only Luncheon: Leveraging Media and Technology to Measure Happiness and Well-Being (Delegates Dining Room)
- Afternoon Session: Social Entrepreneurs Sharing Happiness Initiatives for the Post 2015 Agenda (General Assembly)
The United Nations designated March 20 as The International Day of Happiness in June of 2012 stemming from a resolution presented in a high-level meeting by the nation of Bhutan – the first country to measure Gross Domestic Happiness. Live Happy’s access to the leading academics, authors, psychologists and experts in the field, as well as its role as an underwriter of the Positive Education Summit offered the UN unprecedented access to leaders in the field. “It was our goal to bring real-world expertise to each discussion,” said Live Happy founder Jeff Olson – also a panelist.
Some of the speakers include: Positive Psychology and Education specialist Dr. Kaiping Peng from China; NY Entrepreneur Jason Keehn from Accompany, documentarian Adam Shell previews his forthcoming film entitled Pursuing Happiness; Carley Roney Co-Founder and Chief Content Officer of the XO Group; Ofer Leidner, Co-Founder of Happify; Karol Nickell, Live Happy Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief among others.
In addition to its role in assisting the United Nations, Live Happy launched the Acts of Happiness Campaign, a call to action to inspire people to help make the world a happier place by intentionally engaging in small acts to share and spread happiness. On March 20, more than 30 Acts of Happiness walls will go up in cities across the US, Canada and England inviting people to share how they spread happiness – the power of one small act. There is a virtual wall online at actsofhappiness.org and consumers are invited to tweet or post their act of happiness using #HappyActs. “We often hear people say, ‘I want to be happier, but I just don’t know how’,” said Olson. “This is our way of sharing inspiration from others and showing just how easy it is to increase your own happiness by helping others.”
Both Live Happy LLC’s work with the UN on today’s events at the United Nations, and its Acts of Happiness Campaign underscore the mission to impact the world through a happiness movement that inspires people to engage in living purpose-driven, healthy, meaningful lives. The benefits of increased happiness are scientifically proven – happy people live longer, earn more, are more productive, and are better citizens. In short, igniting happiness can and will change the world.
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About Live Happy
Live Happy LLC, owned by veteran entrepreneur Jeff Olson, is a company dedicated to promoting and sharing authentic happiness through education, integrity, gratitude, and community awareness. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, its mission is to impact the world by bringing the happiness movement to a personal level and inspiring people to engage in living purpose-driven, healthy, meaningful lives. For more information, please visit livehappy.com
About ActsofHappiness.org
Acts of Happiness is designed to ignite happiness across the world by inspiring people to intentionally engage in small acts that share and spread joy. Acts of Happiness are small things—with a big impact. This campaign aims to celebrate happiness, and ultimately to create habits that spill over into every day to help make the world a happier place. Acts of Happiness is brought to you by Live Happy LLC, the publisher of Live Happy magazine, a lifestyle publication offering resources for anyone looking to be happier. From scientific research to anecdotes, celebrity interviews and personal stories Live Happy offers readers simple, practical, proven ways to be happier.
