A Happy Person!
January 16, 2008
BE HAPPY ZONE
By Lionel Ketchian
With permission granted from RJ, who works in law enforcement, I would like to share some thoughts on what he has found on his journey toward being a happy person! The dates indicate when the letters were sent.
5-3-07
I am pretty good at not following my scary thoughts down the road to nowhere, but it takes constant practice. It is not always easy, especially when under a lot of stress. I believe the brain can change and you can learn to under-react to your own thinking. It is hard, but it has gotten much easier. I had never practiced meditation or happiness before this. I think more positive input will only improve my recovery. I look at how others have overcome challenges and it gives me more emotional muscle.
It comes down to one fact. A thought is not the problem, it is just a thought, but the way we think about that thought or circumstance can be a problem! Problems will always arise: sickness, anxiety, but you can handle them much better with a positive attitude and happiness. Acceptance is the gateway to the cure and happiness. I love positive books and people. Have a great day, the sun is shining here and the wind is blowing perfectly. A truly beautiful day to just be alive.
5-14-07
Thoughts, without a doubt, determine our happiness. I truly believe that anxiety disorders are not mental illnesses, but people like me and others who struggled with anxiety still have a very hard wired primitive part that misfires from time to time. With understanding and practice, you can be cured. With practice, you can be happy no matter what. It is very hard concept for some to understand, but thoughts are only thoughts, they are not necessarily truths, happy, sad, fearful, etc. How you react to the thought or circumstance is what matters. Thinking is important, especially to happiness. I love this new practice towards happiness, it is truly changing how I react to everyday things. I see the glass as half full much more of the time. I am so glad I found your website. I am reading The Art Of Happiness, by the Dalai Lama. Have a great day!!!
5-29-07
I just wanted to thank you again for spreading happiness. I love your book, Food For Thought, but most of all the quote "Fear is an emotion, An emotion is a thought. Why fear thoughts?" and "All fear is of the future It's the belief in your inability to cope with the next moment." Those quotes are so true and relate to me in a way I never thought of. All my fear is in the future and my ability to cope with what happens. I am much better over the last few months, since I started practicing happiness. I used to have anxiety. What I really had was a problem as a result of my irrational thinking. Though I had gotten over anxiety, I still did not have faith in myself, now I do. I love to practice happiness, and I also really love mediation. Everything is in the present, nothing is in the future except, What if. I only have right now! Also, I love your Happiness TV Show.
9-27-07
I have been practicing happiness since April 4, 2007 when I made the (Happiness Decision) pledge. I am now reading Gateway to Happiness by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin, and love it. Life is painful, but the suffering is
optional. Unhappiness is a dis-ease and the only way to battle it is with happiness. Without you and the books and articles you have written, I would not have been so helpful to others. If I was not happy, I would be no help to anyone. It has been a few crazy weeks and I can not believe how well I have handled it, since I made the happiness pledge. You are a very special man. People do care and yes, people are good. I am starting to be known as the happy guy at work.
12-22-07
Thank you for your website and bi-weekly newsletters, they are wonderful. I found the answer, I listened to your Happiness Decision on your TV show and it was great. Why have two problems, something happened that I could not control, so why be unhappy also. Since I have been practicing happiness, my whole life has become better. I used to have anxiety and although I got better, the one thing that was missing was happiness. Happiness has brought so much more to my life, I can not even explain it. I love being happy all the time. Why choose to be unhappy, scared, angry, etc? I choose happiness in every situation. God has also just blessed me with another gift, my wife is pregnant with my second child. This time I can enjoy everything instead of worrying so much. Thank you for your work in spreading happiness to the world. Your book selection of Rabbi Pliskin's latest book, Conversations with Yourself was great. Happy Holidays!!!! You are only as Happy as your last Thought!
1-11-08
I am so glad that I stumbled onto your website I still can not believe the positive change in my life, and in so many people around me, because of my choice to be happy. I am reading: Choice Theory, by William Glasser, M.D. and it is great. This book will help me relate better to my two-year-old. He is definitely going through the terrible two's. Have a great and happy day, I know I will.
1-13-08
I have worked my whole life to be happy. It did not come easily and it did not come without some education. In the end, you are right, it was my choice to be happy no matter what was going on in my life. I had to overcome much in life, but it was worth the challenge to get to this point. Depressing yourself is easy, scaring yourself is easy, being happy is hard and takes work. Even my getting over anxiety was a choice in the end. I choose not to entertain thoughts that scare me. Plus I choose not to live in the past or the future. It was not easy, but in the end, it was a better CHOICE then living my life in fear. Happiness is worth everything, it is like an addiction, but a good one.
Lionel Ketchian is the founder of the Happiness Club and can be reached at PrintLRK@aol.com. The website is www.HappinessClub.com.