The First World Congress of Happiness was held in Madrid, organized by the Coca-Cola Institute of Happiness. The more than 600 attendees listened to advice on how to be happier from experts in different subjects.
Gustavo Zerbino, one of the survivors of the 1972 Andes plane crash, opened the first day of the congress by warning attendees that being happy is a decision and should be practiced daily. Zerbino has also pointed out that the world is currently experiencing a crisis of values, much more important than the economic one. “Nowadays people think that the solutions to their problems come from outside, however, it is up to each person to find their own way out. Neither my companions on the flight that crashed in the Andes nor I would have survived if we had thought that we they were going to rescue, we ourselves realized that we had to find our own solution, not complain, and thanks to that, we are alive, “explained Zerbino. The Uruguayan has assured that all human beings? Have our own Andes mountain range “and while? Some choose to just complain, others choose to confront it by tryingturn the problem into an opportunity?.
For Dr. Jesus Sánchez Martos, another of the speakers, being happy means havinggood health and an excellent selective memory that allows us to always remember that we want the good times. “Live longer, in the best possible way and, of course, being happy.” This is the particular decalogue of health that the doctor has shared with the attendees.
The philosopher Luis Arbea, for his part, is committed tolive in the present, laugh at ourselves and share the truthto find the formula for happiness. Arbea considers it something simple and within everyone’s reach, therefore, he confesses that he is totally convinced that despite the various obstacles that life puts on us, we can be much happier than we are. Something similar thinks the philosopher Javier Sádaba, who encouraged the congress attendees to “be what you want to beand to laugh at themselves in order to be happy. “
As for the professor of Psychology at the University of California, Sonja Lyubormirsky, she has stated thatgenetic inheritance determines 50 percent of the degree of happiness that a person can achieve. According to the expert, the personal circumstances of each individual and their behavior with others are the factors responsible for 10 and 40 percent, respectively, of the rest of their happiness.
