HYGGE

There's a lot of hype about  the term "hygge" which Denmark has graciously exported to the rest of the world. Hygge is a lifestyle, a decision we make every day. A mode you choose to turn on. There is much Danes have to put up with and have wisely developed strategies to  survive it all. Hygge is often used to explain why the Danes score high in the happiness surveys again and again. Hygge is not the same for everyone, and this is  what makes it special. Each and everyone of us has a hygge  standard, a list of things that give us that warm fuzzy feeling when we experience them. The remarkable thing about the danes is  that they have come to recognize that it takes an active effort to  recreate those moments in order to experience the  feeling or emotion. They don't wait for it to happen by chance. They actively seek it. Why? If I understand it correctly, the long dark cold winters here make anyone  depressed. Sometimes weeks go by before we are  able to see a single ray of sun. Sometimes it rains for weeks in a row. So we make a decision. Life is what we make of it. Not what the weather gods send our way. I think its brilliant. Now take that principle to every aspect of  your life. You decide to make it your own. Regardless of the external circumstances, you decide to hygge finding the positive things that make you happy. There is no self pity. There is only will power. Go for the things on your list. Everyday. Make the effort to create the circumstances that you know will make you glow. This is hygge. This is the Danish spirit.