But First Things First
Have you succumbed yet to the Well being & Well Living trend for all things Scandi? Certainly right across northern and central Europe there’s been an upsurge of interest in, for example, Hygge (pronounced hue-gah).
This is the Danish concept of, “taking genuine pleasure in making ordinary, everyday moments more meaningful” and if you’ve read my recent Thrive Global piece, ‘A Recipe for Your Personal Happiness — Start With Gratitude & Be Compassionate’ you’ll know that happiness is actually found in the subjective everyday experience. It isn’t some grand, exotic, mystical, unattainable thing.
Global Creep or a Global Mission?
It would not surprise me though if the trend hadn’t traveled much further afield and now right across the globe we are all surfing the crest of a wave that is the urge to live the Scandinavian way — because it’s not only Hot, it’s Valdigt Het!
Well, I’m on a global mission to promote and encourage Well being, Well doing and Well living in all areas of our lives… To make the complex less complex, the tough stuff not so tough, and put the unreachable within reach of everyone.
So, here are some more Scandi Well being and Well living trends which if you haven’t already heard of them, you certainly soon will… Arbejdsglaede, Bolfud, Gluggavedur, Herdegorde, Lagom and Morgenfrisk.
So, What’s the Craic?
These primarily Danish, Swedish and Icelandic terms cover everything from making your work a source of joy and happiness, Arbejdsglaede; having an intimate get together with friends, Bolfud; or just staying indoors and appreciating the winter weather through the window panes, Gluggavedur; cooking for pleasure and tasting the joy in your food, Herdegarde; finding the perfect balance in all things, Lagom; and waking up each day with an up-and-at-’em freshness, Morgenfrisk.
And Now Say Hello to Sisu
And now say hello to the Finnish term Sisu which is hotly tipped to become this year’s must-have quality.
Actually it’s several qualities rolled into one, including bravery, determination, resilience, stoicism, perseverance and hardiness… Sisu means all of these things and more!
So, what are the 9 Things You Absolutely Need to Know About Sisu?
- It’s the beating heart of being Amazing every day
- Like Mindfulness it can create new neural pathways and thought processes
- The word is a derivative of Sisus which quite literally refers to the physical internal organs of a human or an animal i.e. the guts; however
- It cannot be properly translated into the English language and the word itself dates back hundreds of years
- It was born out of adversity, but could be said to now stand for the essence of one’s character; and
- Whereas having guts primarily refers to having courage and the drive to act regardless of the situation and circumstances, to have Sisu confers a further dimension of doing so with honesty, integrity and humility
- It’s a life philosophy
- it’s a key psychological competence that enables extraordinary action to overcome a physically or mentally challenging situation; and
- It’s definitely not just for heroes!
As Le Rochefoucauld wrote, “We are all strong enough to bear the misfortunes of others” — With Sisu though perhaps we can all be strong enough to bear our own too and turn adversity into triumph, each and every day!!
Paul Mudd is the author of ‘Uncovering Mindfulness: In Search Of A Life More Meaningful’ available on Amazon and www.bookboon.com; the ‘Coffee & A Cup of Mindfulness’ and the ‘Mindful Hacks For Mindful Living & Mindful Working’ series. He is also a Contributing Author to The Huffington Post and a Contributing Writer to Thrive Global. Through The Mudd Partnership he works with business leaders, organisations and individuals in support of change, leadership excellence, business growth, organistional and individual wellbeing and well doing, and introducing Mindfulness. He can be contacted at [email protected] and you can follow the continuing journey uncovering Mindfulness on Twitter @TheMindfulBook and at @Paul_Mudd
Originally published at medium.com