Health & Happiness!

June 14, 2006
BE HAPPY ZONE

By Lionel Ketchian

PBS in Connecticut showed a special on Health & Happiness with Dr. Bernie S. Siegel and myself. Dr. Siegel is an acclaimed author and surgeon. Bernie and I, along with many members of the Happiness Club, appeared live on the PBS program to promote the CPTV pledge special "Conversations with Bernie, Health & Happiness." The show aired on CPTV Friday, June 11, at 8:00 PM in 2004. The video was a taped interview conducted in Dr. Siegel's home in Connecticut, and was produced by Van Gorder Studios.

Our next Happiness Club meeting will be this video presentation called: "Conversations with Bernie on Health and Happiness." This is the one-hour video with Dr. Bernie Siegel and Lionel Ketchian that was aired on PBS. The meeting will be on Thursday, June 15, from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at the Fairfield Public Library, in the Rotary Room at 1080 Old Post Road, Fairfield. Meet some wonderful people using happiness in their lives. Admission is free; we will have free popcorn and soda and everyone is welcome. We even have another fun surprise for you! For further information, www.happinessclub.com or call Lionel Ketchian at 203 258-7777.

I first interviewed Dr. Siegel in 1986 on a radio show that I co-hosted called "Successful Living." Dr. Siegel had just written his first best-selling book, Love, Medicine & Miracles at the time. Dr. Siegel is the author of several other books on healing, including Peace, Love and Healing and the Path to Self-Healing and Prescriptions for Living.

In this video Dr. Bernie Siegel and I discuss the book he wrote called: 365 Prescriptions for the Soul, Daily Messages of Inspiration, Hope, and Love, which was published in 2004. It is an inspirational, uplifting and empowering book of thoughts. Dr. Siegel shares his life experiences and lessons in this book. Bernie provides a daily solution to life's challenges and calls them Soul-utions! Every page of this book gives you a prescription for living each day, with a quote that directs you to a greater understanding of life.

Bernie talks about his personal thoughts and life experiences in this video interview. Through the sharing of his inspirational words and personal stories, Bernie and I encourage people, not only to survive, but also to thrive and learn to live.

Dr. Siegel and I discuss attitudes, pain, suffering, health, healing, and happiness. The interview may give you an opportunity to think about the attitudes you now have. The thoughts shared in this presentation may make you more aware of the choices that you are presented with in life. Dr. Siegel and I explore how individual choices in life can help contribute to happiness and well being.

As Dr. Siegel declares: "If you can't change your external circumstances, you can change your attitude toward your life. You can say, "I choose to be happy. I choose to view what I do everyday as a way of contributing love." When you go about life with this attitude, you'll find that your circumstances do begin to change."

Dr. Bernie Siegel has been a leading advocate of alternative healing and patients' rights for over twenty-five years. Dr. Siegel is retired from medical practice. Currently, he enjoys giving lectures and spending time with his family. As a doctor who has worked with cancer patients for most of his career, Dr. Siegel continues to offer his unique perspective on life and the many challenges that people ultimately face.

Happiness is a conscious decision, which puts you on the road toward health and emotional competence.

Daniel Goleman, the author of Emotional Intelligence, has said it so well, "Self-awareness--recognizing a feeling as it happens--is the keystone of emotional intelligence. The ability to monitor feelings from moment to moment is crucial to psychological insight and self-understanding. An inability to notice our true feelings leaves us at their mercy. People with a greater certainty about their feelings are better pilots of their lives, having a surer sense of how they really feel about personal decisions from whom to marry to what job to take."

Lionel Ketchian is the founder of the Happiness Club and can be reached at PrintLRK@aol.com. The Web site is www.happinessclub.com.