While the level of happiness among citizens living in developing countries is rising, society in developed nations is reportedly becoming unhappier. This essay will elaborate on several reasons for this problem and suggest some lessons that can be learnt from this.
On the one hand, there are two possible reasons attributed to this phenomenon. To begin with, citizens living in developed countries often have unhealthy diet, such as: fast food, high calories food, soft drinks,… Because of having too much calories in their diets to take in their bodies, which leads to them feeling unhappy with their appearance and making them more self-conscious. For instance, a standard American diet contain roughly 3.000 calories a day, while Vietnamese meals often contain vegetables and other unprocessed food. Hence, inhabitants living in developing countries often feel more happy with their bodies. People living in developing countries often have more relaxed thoughts about work, they just want a stable job and then rest on weekends, they are more comfortable with their hours and make ends meet to be content, such as: Vietnamese people often get up late and then eat breakfast, go to work at 8am, sometimes they go to the coffee shops with their friends. In contrast, people living in developed countries have high job requirements and also have high ambitious personal goals. Consequently, they always feel unhappy work-lìfe balance. For example, in Japan, people often work all day and sometimes work overtime until late at night, then go home and then wake up early the next day to continue working. Therefore, it has caused many people to be stressed and thousands of deaths due to increased work pressure.
On the other hand, there are many lessons that can be learnt from this issues. Individuals should practice mindfulness or would be more happy and appreciate what you have. As you are always a version of your life, in this world no one is born with a perfect version and learn to love yourself more and develop yourself to become more positive. The government should ban companies often overworking hours, decrease workload and provide compensation policies to encourage people to be more productive. Furthermore, balanced material progress with social connections and community engagement is also needed. By having a work-life balance, people are able to spend quality time with their family and friends in order to strengthen family bonds, which helps them enhance life satisfaction and happiness. And one more important thing is that we should spend more time with family members. By limiting the time spend on electronic devices, people will be able to connect more with family.
In conclusion, economic development is a crucial reason leading to the happiness of less-developed countries, while the pressure of being successful triggers an unhappy life for those living in first-world nations. From this phenomenon, we can learn that both a comprehensively developed economy and work-life balance are of utmost importance factors to ensure people’s well-being.