INTERCONNECTEDNESS

June 23, 2004

BE HAPPY ZONE
By Lionel Ketchian

What does being happy have to do with being connected? It's been said, "When you smile, the whole world smiles with you." I can tell you that the connection really starts by being connected to yourself. We have so much stress in our lives these days. Stress is actually being disconnected to ourselves. How can we feel any kind of connection to others when we do not feel a sense of connection within ourselves? The answer is that we cannot feel connected when we allow ourselves to be in a disconnected state.

What do we want to feel most of all? We crave a feeling of being connected to other people. We want to experience a sense of connection to the people we love, to our family and friends, to society, and the entire world. This is what peace is really all about. Peace is a feeling of being connected to life.

In order to feel peace we must feel connected to ourselves, and this is what we seem to avoid at all costs. We do not want to face ourselves. Yet unless we are comfortable within ourselves, we will not be comfortable with others. In fact, unhappiness can well be defined as being disconnected. It is being disconnected from the world, our family and of course ourselves. If we are constantly looking for a connection to others, and feel that we want to belong to fit in, then we need to find our connection to ourselves first.

Is this the reason for the large percentage of divorce and unhappiness these days? As Lillian Eichler Watson has said, "...true happiness stems from a quality within ourselves, from a way of thinking of life. Of all the millions of words written on happiness, this is the oldest and most enduring truth. If the principles of contentment are not within us, no material success, no pleasures or possessions, can make us happy."

Nature has been described as the web of life to express the interconnectedness of all life. We call it the balance of nature. Once nature is out of balance than all life is negatively affected. This is also true of the most important aspect of reality, which is the nature of the interconnectedness of all things. It all starts with the atoms and sub atomic particles that make up our physical reality.

What am I talking about…anyway? The fact is that being happy allows me to feel the interconnectedness of humanity. As I feel happier and more peaceful, I am centered in this moment. I have been experiencing a greater connection to other people. I don't think this is a coincidence. I think that people feel more connected to me because I feel more connected to life. People have been cooperative and helpful with me and it is not happening accidentally. As I have worked on suspending my demands and desires, people have been unbelievably supportive of my work. I have never witnessed such support, understanding, helpfulness, approval, and encouragement.

Interconnectedness needs to be experienced. We cannot understand it by tying to think about how it is possible. Happiness in the moment seems to be the connection. We all need to experience the connection to ourselves, so we can begin to experience our connection to each other. Our Happiness Club is really about being interconnected. People call me to tell me they have cancer, they have lost their loved one, they have stopped smoking or so many other personal experiences. They connect with me to share their life. They know happiness is a safe and loving state to be in and they want to connect with me in that state.

One of my greatest honors is the trust that has been given to me to grant happiness the power to work for all of us, and thus strengthen our interconnectedness. Interconnectedness is community. Happiness is beginning to bring many people together. Happiness is the connection we all need to experience well being in our lives. Happiness is our connection to each other, and we need to have that link in order to make the connection to other people. As Aristotle said, "To live happily is an inward power of the soul."

Our next Happiness Club meeting will have a presentation by Richard Ellis, M.D. Doctor Ellis will present a slide show on the three years he spent living in Alaska, to the Happiness Club on Thursday, July 15, from 7:00 - 9:00 P.M. at the Fairfield Sullivan Independence Hall in Fairfield. He will also share some of his happiness quotes that he does on a regular basis. Come on down, meet some great people, get connected and be happy. Admission is free. I look forward to connecting with you.

Are you the one I have been trying to reach and all I get is a busy signal? It's time for you to get connected to happiness...NOW!