Be happy again.

Luxembourg is an interesting place, the country is beautiful and welcomes foreigners, more so than any other European country. Luxembourg has c. 46% expats population compared to c. 25% in Switzerland. Even though rarely we get to meet and interact with native Luxembourgers in our day-to-day life barring the bureaucratic and governmental interactions, foreigners are generally feeling welcomed. Luxembourg is the second richest country after Qatar measured in per-capita terms. Luxembourg also boasts of one of the most stable political situation, is a founding EU member generally quite savvy in its business practices and is the the largest fund industry in the world outside of the United States. Not to mention a good public infrastructure and progressive thinking with initiatives such as free public transportation. Clearly, the country has done well given its c. 500 thousand population. Isn't this what most countries and people in the world are striving for in their own countries. Wouldn't that mean, naturally we are in one of the best places on earth (count out the weather please) and we should all be super happy. Take a second, ask yourself the question, are you happy? Surprisingly, or not so surprisingly, the answer a lot of us come-up with is, not really. We are not that happy as we have hoped to be. World over, with the pervasive presence of technology, increasing stress of work, constant change in life, people increasingly living alone with no or little familial connections are problems we as humans are facing every day. We are talking less or hushing away this problem with sweet words. We are feeling lonely. We are feeling less human connections. Americans are said to be being lonelier than ever, and Japanese teenagers and young people are loathe to having sex, and in Luxembourg people are looking to socialise but doing less so in real-life. As a matter of fact, Luxembourg suicide rates measured per 100 thousand people are worse compared to countries such as Sudan and Congo according to WHO (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate). So why are we not happy, when most of us are having an above average income and a good life situation. The rational answer most of us are coming up with is, we are devaluing human relationships and giving more space to technology and things that makes us less happy. We are almost forgetting how to value good human relationships and values that we have been developing on the name of civilisation for centuries. Often times, we have paid a horrible price to learn that war is bad, humans can be brutal to one another, religion is not the cure-all, we need the flora and fauna and the animals to thrive for our own selfish reasons for that we want the earth to survive. However, we are losing it all in a rapid pace as we speak. Think about it, have you recently come up with a reason not to meet someone because you just want to hang out with your gadgets? You know what I am talking about. So, why are we acting this way when we clearly know the gadgets are disconnecting relationships and people contacts in real-life. The straight forward answer is, its easy to just hangout with gadgets and we can be just ourselves without needing to make an effort to be nice, and better still, no one is going to be judging us, as they do in real-life. But, ultimately we know, the gadget love isn't making us happy and giving us less sleep. If you want to change this, there is a straight forward way, something we all know. Meet people, form friendships and relationships, be less judgemental, be more forgiving, and tolerate different view points host people in your homes and out in the coffee shops, take a walk together, share a drink with one another. Now, let's see how you feel after a good heart felt conversation. We are in one of the best places on earth to do just that. We have a young, education and well-traveled population. For doing this, we need to get the noise out of our internal systems Internet is teaching us, to be less tolerant more vicious and negative. Take back your life. Make a conscious decision, and meet someone new, have a good conversation, be genuinely helpful and just enjoy the moment. Your only hope to be happy, again. Written by Neo Movio. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of LuxExpats.lu and LuxExpats does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.