Frequently touted as one of the happiest countries in the world, we’ve long been jealous of Denmark’s feel-good vibes. It should come as little surprise to learn, then, that just a few years ago, a Happiness Museum has now opened in Copenhagen.

To mark the moment, Danish psychologist Marie Helweg-Larsen, a professor at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, sat down with CNN to explain why the Danes are so much happier than everyone else, especially during these trying times. And it is ‘pyt’ – a term used by Danes to express that they accept a situation is out of their control, and that, even though they might be annoyed or frustrated, they decide not to waste unnecessary energy on thinking more about it – which holds the answer.

This idea of acceptance and moving on, of resetting, of ‘pyt’, isn’t just beloved by Helweg-Larsen. Indeed, the BBC reports that, in 2018, it was chosen as the nation’s favourite word in a competition held by the Danish Library Association during the country’s annual ‘Library Week’. And Chris MacDonald – who moved to Denmark from the US over two decades ago – also sung the praises of ‘pyt’ in What Denmark has taught me about happiness, his article for Danish national newspaper Berlingske.

Need a September reset? Try the Danish concept of ‘pyt’