Mia, 17, Samira, 15, Flora, 17, and Laila, 16, are pupils at the Technical Education Centre in Frauenfeld, Thurgau, and share their views on happiness.
Flora: «The way I see it, there are two kinds of happiness. The kind that comes by chance, when something nice just happens. And the happiness that comes from having things like friends in your life.»
Laila: «I don't believe in chance, but in fate. That everything happens for a reason. For me, happiness is what I love about my life: my friends, my family, and the encouragement and support I get from people.»
How can you give your luck a bit of a nudge? It's obvious, isn't it? Through friends!
Mia, 17
Mia: «For me, happiness is my new friends, whom I met after moving to Switzerland – and my old friends in Germany.»
Flora: «I've rediscovered my old self and find happiness in the little things. Just like when I was a child, I'm delighted when I see something beautiful in nature – an animal, for example. A few years ago, I would have found that rather unremarkable.»
Mia: «How can you give your luck a bit of a nudge? It's obvious, isn't it? Through friends!»
Keeping an eye on the positives
Samira: «It also helps to look at life in a positive light. If you focus on the good things too, you'll automatically be happier.»
Laila: «We can actively work towards our own happiness. If good food makes me happy, I'll make sure I get some.»
Samira: «At the same time, you should realise that it's okay to have negative feelings and to allow yourself to feel them. You can have a positive outlook on life and still feel unhappy from time to time.»
What makes us unhappy
Flora: «Social media plays a very important role in our lives. If people get the impression from it that life is always brilliant and that they have to be happy all the time, I can certainly understand why that might be stressful for them . That's why I think it's important to stay true to yourself and be guided by your own feelings rather than by other people's expectations.»
Laila: «Absolutely. I let myself feel everything. I don't feel any ‹happiness stress› around my friends either.»
Flora: «What makes you unhappy is overthinking. So sometimes I say to myself: Don't overthink things or go over everything a hundred times – it'll all be fine.»
Mia: «It really gets to me when family members have expectations that I can't meet – like when they complain that they don't see me enough and don't understand that I have a life of my own.»
Laila: «What really made me unhappy was not having found an apprenticeship yet and constantly being confronted with this issue in class. Fortunately, I've found one.»
I tell myself: if it doesn't affect me directly, there's no need to worry about it.
Flora, 17
Samira: «World events sometimes get me down. At the same time, the thought that so many people want to make a difference gives me hope.»
Flora: «I tell myself: if it doesn't affect me directly, there's no need to worry about it. That sounds selfish. I wish all these crises didn't exist. But I don't want to let them get me down.»
Mia: «As an individual, there's not much you can do about some problems. And there are many I don't understand well enough to think about them in depth.»
Lots of time with the family
Laila: «I don't want to turn a blind eye to bad things and I want to stay informed about what's going on in the world. There are some things I'm not happy about, but they don't weigh on me because I have a strong faith. I also had a lovely childhood. I thought it was great – though I suppose many people see it differently – to be an only child. Technically, I'm not one, but I was brought up as such. I enjoyed the fact that my parents had time for me and that I could play with them so much. That's what made me the person I am today. I'm grateful for that .»
Flora: «Our parents took my sister and me on lots of outings – for example, we visited practically every zoo in Eastern Switzerland because we love animals so much. At the weekends, we were almost always out and about in the countryside. That has given me lots of lovely memories, just like our quiz nights.»
