What makes a Finn happy? These 10 things

There was, a long time ago, a website called “Virtual Finland” in Spanish. I used to check it out before going to Finland in order to get to know the country and the Finns themselves better: I wanted to be prepared. The website doesn’t exist anymore, but thanks to this article (SPA) I found out the 10 things that make a Finn happy.

A couple of happy ladies in Helsinki. Source (CC: by)

As this webpage said – and as we reviewed in our Spanish version a while ago – recently a popular Finnish magazine called Seura (which in Finnish more or less means “in good company“) commissioned a big survey to find out where the Finnish happiness is at. The survey consisted of 678 questions and was given to 1015 people.

These are the results on what makes a Finn happy:

1. Home, sweet home. Your own home.
2. Sunny weather.
3. An honest relationship.
4. A relationship based on trust.
5. The freedom to be yourself.
6. A clean home.
7. Friendship, gestures or words in a relationship.
8. Friendship, actions within a relationship.
9. Fidelity in a relationship.
10. Security in a relationship.

It is interesting that almost none of the things in the list are materialistic. I can picture other countries where in the top five there would be things like “a big car”. It is also interesting to see that simple pleasures such as a sunny day (which I understand since Finland can be quite cloudy) are so high in the list.

The points regarding relationships, loving or otherwise, may have something to do with the fact that Finns open up to others later than the people of other countries. “Very few relationships, but quality ones” might be the way of thinking here.

What is the “top ten” of things that make you happy? What is your number one from the list above? Share it with us in the comments.

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