Happiness lessons from Finland

Happiness lessons from Finland

Finland is the happiest country in the world in 2019, for the second year in a row, according to the World Happiness Report http://worldhappiness.report/ed/2019/. What is even more interesting is that the happiness level of Finland has steadily increased over the last years, again according to World Happiness Report: “The annual data for Finland have continued their modest but steady upward trend since 2014, thereby putting Finland significantly ahead of other countries in the top ten”. The Finns also took many other number-one spots in different ratings: most stable, the freest and the safest country. This is quite impressive for such a young country (Finland declared independence from Russia in 1917). Thinking about it, I saw a lot of similarities, but also some clear differences, from the Russian culture. Not being afraid of sufferance, and even enjoying it and stoically meeting and overcoming any obstacles that life brings are some of the features that Finns share with their neighbouring Russians (which to some extent is influenced by their harsh climates). But Finns are also very different from Russians in a lot of ways. This may explain why Finns enjoy the number 1 spot in most of the ratings, whereas Russians general occupy much lower positions.

So what makes Finns happy, living in a country with one of the most brutal climates on the planet? For several months of the year they live mostly in darkness with temperatures below minus 30°C

There are several economic and political reasons for Finnish happiness (similar to other Scandinavian countries), including:

But there are also some country-specific happiness reasons which we can learn from the Finns and apply to our everyday life.

Here are my happiness lessons learnt from Finland:

1. Connect with the nature: Finns love nature and spend a lot of time outdoors, pursuing different sports and outdoor activities, like fishing, berry and mushroom picking, cross-country skiing, canoeing on the lakes, hiking, etc. Almost every Finn has a summer cottage (which can be a very basic log cabin with water taken from a well. They are very cosy inside with a fireplace, and of course a sauna next to the house. :-). These wooden cottages are typically located in the middle of an idyllic landscape, next to a lake and forest, and the Finns spend a lot of time there during the summer.

2. Healthy, natural food, locally sourced: Finnish food is rather heavy (especially in winter, due to the cold climate) but very tasty and natural. Their diet includes a lot of reindeer dishes. My favourite is reindeer stew with cranberry jam and mashed potatoes. On the menu is, of course, salmon and other fish, including cray fish in summer, as well as a lot of great berries (like cloudberry, blueberry, cranberry, raspberry, etc.) and mushrooms – gifts from the forests.

3. Live in the moment: Finns don’t think too much about tomorrow. They live for today and make plans as they go. This is particularly applicable in the north of the country, Lapland, where the harsh climate dictates the plans of the day. For example, if there is a snowstorm tomorrow, all your plans would change anyway, so see how the weather is first and then plan your day. Also they know how to be flexible and embrace change.

4. Learn and develop different skills; have multiple skills  (as opposed to one specialisation), and do what you enjoy. Finns can be IT developers at the same time as hiking guides, singers, farmers and carpenters. They develop all kind of talents, pursue activities they enjoy, and they are not afraid to fail. As you can clearly read in my post on the overall happiness concept, freedom to make life choices is one of the most important contributions to happiness (read that post here).

5. Stay childlike, playful, creative and a little crazy!  Finns are always doing weird and crazy things, such as playing football in a swamp, ice-fishing competitions in summer, etc.

6. Be strong, don’t give up whatever the obstacle (Sisu concept): A strange thing that the Finnish people sometimes indulge in, is the “enjoyment of misery” (this point was mentioned several times by different Finns I met). They are gloomy and melancholic but, in a strange way, they like it. At first glance, you might see this when visiting the country. Some Finns argue that this less than joyful look and attitude actually contributes to their own higher personal happiness. As happiness is a relative thing, if you look around and see everyone else is gloomy and sad, you perceive yourself to be happier by comparison. This makes feeling happy a lot easier than the reverse, according to the Finns.

“Hardship” is seen as a part of life. Finns are used to it and, hence, they don’t give up when faced with the task at hand. It also makes them very strong and stoic in whatever they do. Sisu is a Finnish concept described as “stoic determination, tenacity of purpose, grit, bravery, resilience, and hardiness” (Wikipedia). This allowed the Finnish army of 350,000 soldiers to defeat the million-strong Soviet army in 1939-40. It allowed them to survive famines and in general to be able to live in such a brutal climate. Sometimes it goes even further. Finns create obstacles for themselves by finding the most challenging way to do things and enjoy (or think they are enjoying) a life of constant fighting. I met Finns who were obsessed with constantly seeking out new obstacles: climbing 7 summits (highest mountains on each continent); moving around to live in 25 countries; going around the world on a sailboat; doing the longest hikes in the minimum time possible, etc. I’m not sure how healthy this is – as we know, everything is good in moderation 🙂

In any case, the Sisu concept is definitely the main national feature, which is shared by almost all Finns independent of gender. The Finns are tough. 🙂

7. Warm up and relax in a sauna: Saunas have an almost holy status for Finns. There are more than 2 million saunas in Finland (in a country of 5.5m people)! It’s the place where they bath, warm up, relax, socialize, drink and even eat – they sometimes grill sausages on the sauna stones!. Sauna rules: usually gender separated. Take a shower before entering naked, then jump into the lake water or snow to cool down. I was not a fan of the sauna before visiting Finland but I grew to love it, especially after an entire day of cross-country skiing in the cold weather – it feels great to warm up (Finnish saunas are very hot and they add water to the stones to make it even hotter). After sweating, you jump into the snow (yeah, I did it 🙂 and feel like you were born anew. It’s said to help relax your muscles and prepare for the next day of cross-country skiing. In a real traditional sauna, there is no running water but buckets of water in the middle for you to wash yourself with.

8. Enjoy the simple pleasures of life: Finns are the masters of this. Again, there is a strong link to nature here. Learn to enjoy going out before breakfast to pick wild blueberries next to the hut and put them in your porridge. Or pick mushrooms or go fishing and catch your own dinner, or simply enjoy the sunset on the lake from your summer cottage.

9. Have more time for yourself. Finns actually enjoy being alone. They are not as sociable as their other Nordic neighbours. One of the important factors when choosing a house or summer cottage is “to have no people or neighbours within a radius of several kilometres” from your house.

10. Pamper yourself with a cup of coffee and dessert. Finland is the country with the highest consumption of coffee in the world. Coffee is a staple, as necessary as oxygen. Coffee usually comes with some delicious sweet treats, such as cinnamon rolls or blueberry cakes. Very ‘hyggeligt’. 🙂