Inaugural happiness journey launched

Dubai / WAM

The nation-wide celebrations to mark the International Day of Happiness, which the National Happiness and Positivity Programme organised under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, kicked off on Saturday with the inaugural Happiness Journey at the Dubai Water Canal.
In her opening address at the event, Ohood bint Khalfan Al Roumi, UAE Minister of State for Happiness, said, “Happiness is a choice that requires personal commitment. We hope today’s journey helped you make that choice. Happiness is a journey not a destination; hence the name of our event. Today marks a first step on our journey to establish happiness as a culture in the UAE.”
The full-day event kicked off with the Happiness Walk that went from Dubai Water Canal to the BOXPARK and back. This year’s inaugural Happiness Journey bears the theme of giving, reflecting the Year of Giving 2017 initiative launched by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
She noted that the activities focus on five main values: first and foremost is mindfulness, followed by positivity, gratitude for the blessings and small things in our lives, maintaining good healthy relationships with the people in our lives, living with purpose, and positivity. “His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum says that positivity is the pair of glasses through which we view the world,” Al Roumi noted. “If the glasses are dark, we will see the world as full of disasters and evil.”
The Happiness Journey comprised a number of sessions around science and art of happiness and positivity, which featured high-profile speakers. The list included Douglas Abrams, Co-Author of the book Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World, which was written by Nobel Prize laureates His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Other prominent speakers included Dr. Robert Waldinger, Director of the Harvard Study for Adult Development, Dr Briar Jacques, Counselling Psychologist and Mindfulness Trainer, and King Nahh (Nyeeam Hudson), the world’s youngest motivational speaker.

A number of prominent Arab speakers also took part of the event, namely Clinical Psychologist Dr. Naif Al Muttawa and Hanan Al Sammak, Co-Founder of Heart Masters, who hosted two sessions titled “Your Thoughts Influence Your Feelings” and “Live Your Life with Purpose”, respectively. Meanwhile, Dr. Amar Behbehani, Professor, Art Therapist and Programme Developer, explored ways to unlock creativity in children. Elsewhere, Health Blogger and Lawyer Salha Al Basti spoke of challenging the impossible in one’s quest to be happy.

On the same note, the event offered attendees a selection of activities they could choose from throughout the day, including the Global Village Indian Pavilion Show, “Happiness F&B” (comfort foods available at various food trucks, where 25 per cent of the proceeds will be donated to charity), yoga, laughter mob, art, auctions, music and much more.

The National Programme for Happiness and Positivity enlisted a list of influential sponsors for the landmark event, such as the Ministry of Interior – police College, Dubai Customs, the Dubai Sports Council, the Mohammed bin Rashid Foundation, Dubai Parks & Resorts, Global Village, Lammtara Studios, First Security Group, Yogafest, Lighthouse Arabia, Nobel Poetry Club, Lindy Hop Dubai, and the Youth Team.

The Happiness Journey aimed to achieve a set of objectives with both social and economic effects, namely: to propose happiness-centric strategic policies, foster happiness and positivity as a culture and lifestyle in the UAE, create KPIs to measure national happiness against global standards and indices, and create national literature for happiness and positivity. Moreover, the event aims to eventually become a catalyst for happiness and positivity in the UAE.