Don´t Worry - Be Happy

According to the Eurobarometer, 82 percent of the EU citizens are happy.

Gratitude

The newly published public opinion survey by Eurobarometer summarizes views of the citizens of 25 member states of the EU. The starting question asks the respondents how satisfied they are with the quality of their life. In average 82 percent of all EU-Europeans are quite or very satisfied.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the most satisfied and happy people live in the Nordic countries - Sweden (98% satisfied), Denmark (97%) and Finland (94%). At the other end of the scale, only a half of the participating Hungarians feel happy with their life conditions. All other Central European EU countries stay "central", around the average, from the happier Austrians (83%), Czechs (82%) and Germans (81%), to the rather modest Poles (74%) and Slovaks (72%).

Don´t worry…
The quality of life is, at least partly, influenced by the outward conditions and circumstances. A stable political situation, healthy economy and a welfare system helping the old, the handicapped and other marginalized members of the society, such conditions allow the people to feel a basic stability in their lives. In the Nordic countries, all these external factors are well-developed. In the Central Europe, the particular countries are not that wealthy, but the basic political, economic and social situation as well as the "objective" socio-economic situation of the people is similar to the North. Truly, many Central-Europeans are hesitating to state that they are happy - but they do not hesitate to admit not to be worrying for their future and for the perspectives of their children.

Be happy…
To be happy and satisfied with ones life, it is, in the end, an inward state of mind. It is partly influenced by the personal temperament, partly illuminated by the personal vision of life, and partly formed by the overall formation, education and culture in the given society. Here I can see significant differences between the Nordic countries and the Central European countries. The young people in the Nordic countries are encouraged first to develop their self-conscience and to train their social skills - and only then concentrate on the particular knowledge and profession. The whole society here is built on these free, self-conscious and responsible men/women, on their dialog and cooperation. In the Central European education tradition the priorities are rather different: respect to the authorities, discipline, and a huge amount of dates and facts. The societies are then more individualized and differentiated, more competitive and mono-logical.

…and grateful
The opinion questions are often to narrow. Perhaps it was the feeling of some of the many Hungarians, who were not able to declare themselves as happy and satisfied. For many people, the quality of life is not fully expressed in the category of "happiness" or "satisfaction". Especially now, in the Lent, we are invited to concentrate on the overall background of our lives, to renew our mental and spiritual balance. The tempted Jesus in the desert - full of the Spirit and fasting - opens up the more essential questions of our lives, their main attitude and basic relationships. He invites us to feel the reverence for God, for the neighbour and for life in all its forms, and to be grateful, even under worrying outward conditions of the daily life.

Related information
Europa Barometer on happiness, http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/index_en.htm

By Hana Volna, Interpreter and Translator, Master of Scandinavian Philology and Theology.  Works for the Foreign Ministry of the Czech Republic on EU issues.