It's International Day of Happiness

Today is International Day of Happiness, a day when people all over the world celebrate happiness and the importance of being happy.

Here are the things you need to know about this day:

Who created the Idea?

The idea to have a day to celebrate happiness globally was created by Jayme Illien who is a philanthropist, global economist, humanitarian, policy adviser, and UN special adviser.

In 2011, Illien launched the idea of creating an international day of awareness that highlights and emphasises the need to pursue happiness as a goal for all human beings.

He received support from all 193 UN member states and also that of the then UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon.

On 20 March 2013, the first official International Day of Happiness was held.

This year's theme

The ten steps to global happiness are:

Tell everyone

On this day, ensure that you wish everyone a happy day. Help in spreading joy and awareness of the celebration through face to face wishes and also through social media.

Do what makes you happy

Focus on activities and things that bring you joy.

Pledge to create more happiness in the world

Through the UN's International Day of Happiness official website, you can pledge to create more happiness wherever you are.

Celebrate a happiness week event

Participate in any happiness event scheduled within the week.

Share your happiness with the world

Use the various hashtags including, #makeithappy, #internationaldayofhappiness, #createhappiness #happinessday, #tenbillionhappy or #choosehappiness to share your happiness with the world on social media.

Promote the resolutions

Help in promoting the UN resolutions which helped in the formalisation of International Day of Happiness.

Take part in the celebrations by hosting an event

Be part of the celebrations by hosting an event during the happiness week

Advance the global goals 

Help in advancing the global goals for happiness which include the elimination of poverty and hunger, achieving gender equality, as well provision of clean water, affordable and clean energy.

Badge in on your channels

Include International Day of Happiness badges to all your online channels.

Stay tuned for the announcement of step 10 on March 20th

The final step is often announced on the day of celebration

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." ? Mahatma Gandhi