Happiness Report
April 27, 2005
BE HAPPY ZONE
By Lionel Ketchian
My Dear Friends,
The most important part of this report is my experience of meeting some of the happiest people in the world just like you. The greatest benefit the Happiness Club has given me is meeting with, talking with and being with some of the most wonderful people. I can see beyond any doubt that happiness can transform the individual to become the most peaceful and at the same time the most powerful person in the world. This is because when we live with happiness we become loving and we have those qualities that we need so badly and can give to others. Without having happiness for yourself you have nothing to give others. Being happy illuminates the world for each of us to find our true meaning and purpose in life.
The New York Times just published an article in the Connecticut section on Sunday, April 17, 2005 that Bill Slocum wrote about the Happiness Club. It was an outstanding article that helped make people become more aware of happiness.
We just filmed an extraordinary two-hour documentary interview with Dr. Robert Muller and his wife Barbara. Dr. Muller was a former Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and the author of Most of All They Taught Me Happiness. We were fortunate to have the expert direction and creative style of Jon Van Gorder who runs Van Gorder Studios, Inc in Fairfield, CT. We filmed an interview and are creating a film that we know will positively influence generations to come. It deals with the importance of happiness and peace for the evolution of mankind. We would like to see "Happiness and Peace" air on PBS. In June of last year a film called "Conversations with Dr. Bernie Siegel, Health and Happiness" under the direction of Jon and Derek Van Gorder was shown on PBS in Connecticut.
Dr. Muller's distinguished career at the United Nations has spanned nearly 40 years. During his tenure with the world body, he contributed significantly to the creation of a number of its specialized agencies. Dr. Muller has written over twenty books and I am so glad that his book, Most of All They Taught Me Happiness will be reprinted in July 2005. It is as important a book as Victor Frankl's Man's Search For Meaning.
The world needs Dr. Muller's book and it should be taught in every university to teach the importance of happiness. The book contains lessons for all of us to learn and it offers benefits to all mankind. I knew that I was reading about a man that understood happiness better than most people did in our time. At a young age Dr. Muller experienced the horrors of World War II. The Nazis imprisoned him even though he was born in Belgium and was a Catholic. Dr. Robert Muller's web site is www.GoodMorningWorld.org.
We are continuing our Happiness Club meetings every month. We have been meeting since January 2000. There are many wonderful people that have taken an active role in our club. The Happiness Club started at the end of the first Happiness Class I had taught at Sacred Heart University in November 1999. The graduating class thought it was important to continue meeting in order to practice happiness and not forget the principles we had just learned.
The Happiness Club of Niagara Canada in St. Catharines, Ontario celebrated their one-year anniversary. Under the capable direction of Jane Bradley monthly meetings are presented to the members. Jane has been featured in one of the Canadian newspapers that have published an article about the important work she is doing with the Happiness Club.
The California Happiness Club of San Francisco, CA. which started over a year ago is still active after Aymee Coget a Ph.D. student got married and lived in Paris for a short period of time. Now Aymee and Bob Nozik, M.D. the author of the book Happy 4 Life: HereÕs How to Do It are holding monthly California Happiness Club meetings and positively affecting all they come in contact with.
Our web site www.HappinessClub.com is doing well since it went on line December 25, 1999. You can find tons of happiness information about books on happiness that I have read and recommend. Over 100 articles from this column, the Be Happy Zone that has been published in the Fairfield Citizen-News since August 2000. While you are on the web site you can subscribe to the free Happ-E-Newsletter by just clicking on the mail box icon.
You can watch "The Happiness Show," every Monday night, at 9:30 - 10:00 PM. Your co-hosts are Lionel Ketchian and George Ortega. The TV show is broadcast in six towns on Cablevision of Connecticut channel 77. It airs in Bridgeport, Fairfield, Milford, Orange, Stratford and Woodbridge. If you know someone in White Plains, New York they can watch "The Happiness Show" on channel 76, every Thursday night from 9:00 - 9:30 PM on Cablevision
You can see and hear over 100 half-hour episodes of The Happiness Show on your computer online at: www.thehappinessshow.com. We are proud to present, at no charge, episodes we've taped in streaming audio (for 28.8 Kbps+), streaming video (for 56 Kbps+), and select episodes in broadband streaming video (for DSL, cable, wireless and satellite) Internet connections.
Our next Happiness Club meeting will be on Thursday, May 19, from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. The presentation will be "The Unhappiness Conspiracy!" The meeting will be held at the Sullivan Independence Hall, Fairfield. Admission is free; everyone is welcome. Looking forward to seeing you. Come on down, meet some great people, get connected, and step out with joy in your life!
Lionel Ketchian is the founder of the Happiness Club, a Happiness Coach, and can be reached at PrintLRK@aol.com. The Web site is www.HappinessClub.com.