Is there a secret to happiness?

Is happiness spending time with loved ones, or spending time alone in nature? Is it losing yourself as you dance to music, or finding yourself while quietly meditating? The secret to happiness is actually all of these things and more, and it varies from country to country and culture to culture.

According to the annual World Happiness Report, Norway is the happiest country, scoring highly in its approach to caring, freedom, generosity, honesty, health, income and good governance.

Meanwhile, the Happy Planet Index ranks Costa Rica as the happiest country on Earth. While opposites when it comes to climate, the two countries apparently have one thing in common: Happy citizens.

Despite the many differences in what constitutes happiness in countries around the world, there are some common threads. The most notable has to do with material wealth: Few, if any, people around the globe find happiness through personal possessions and financial success. Rather, they tend to attain it by appreciating the little things in life and, more importantly, the people in their lives.

Here are some of the secrets to happiness, from a variety of countries around the world, and the research behind why they work for the people who practice them. So read on, and find a multiculural approach to happiness!

The Secret to Happiness
Around the World, courtesy of Home To Go