Being a Happiness Agent
Some Musings on International Happiness Day: The times around us have uncertainties and are tumultuous. But, did you know 20th of March is celebrated every year as the International Happiness Day and it continues as the Happiness Month? And yes, there's even a concept of "happytalism" as a new economic system! Thought of sharing this looking at the sunnier side of life!
Posting this on behalf of Divya and her friends Meghna, Anshi, Tanya, the "Happiness Agents" who had been doing this activity in the last few months before the school closed.
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Hi All! We are students of NPS KRM and last year a few of us got together for an idea for a Changemaker Project- which could make a difference. We thought of many ideas such as planting trees, providing clean water, taking care of the elderly, etc. We were not quite sure if these were good enough. While in the process, we read the newspaper, watched news, talked to people and we noticed something. A lot of Sad News & Bad News!! A lot of people, who weren’t happy.
That set us in a new direction and we started a project called 'Happiness Agents' !
We started this project to make the world a happier place to live in. There are many ways to make others happy. One of them is by giving. We wanted to show that by giving the smallest things people can become happy. When you give, it is not only the receiver who becomes happy but the giver becomes happy too.
There are a lot of things you can give and it will not cost you anything. Your Emotions, Your Time, Your Kindness is what matters! You can make your house help or your driver happy just by saying 'Thank You' or talk to them in their own languages. You can spend some time with your grandparents by reading a story book with them or just play a board game with your parents. (if they want to). It doesn't have to be a physical thing. A hug, a high five or just a smile might make someone else's day. Things that you no longer use and others will probably have more use for than you do.
To kickstart this, we first started in our school. We wanted to begin with younger kids so they can learn early and teach others when they become older. With that, we started with the 3rd graders in our school with a very simple message. We wanted them to become "Happiness Agents" and start the multiplier process. They had to create a "Happiness Event" which could be anything you do to make others happy. They had to record this in a "Happiness Tracker" to make this a habit. We also kept a "Happiness Collection Point" where people could : A donation box where everyone can keep things they don't need so that it go for charity. We showed them how the uniforms they had donated at the end of the year brought smiles to hundreds of underprivileged children.
After 15 days we collected the trackers and saw how happy they were handing these to us! Reading some of their messaged had our hearts brimming with joy and happiness. It said: "I went for a walk with my grandma when she was lonely", "I made chapati with my mother", "I made a kite with my friend, though I wanted to run and play to make her happy", "I got a box of crayons for my driver's son", "I gave a hug to my help for cooking dinner", "I shared my chocolates with the security guards". Our happiness knew no bound. We had made a small start.
We were overjoyed when we saw the Happiness Trackers posted on our Notice Boards to encourage other children as well. We were just 4 when we started, but now we have so many more Happiness Agents with us. And the journey has just begun. Thanks to Aparna Mam for helping always.
Happy Happiness Day!!
