Warmth and Intelligence!

October 10, 2007
BE HAPPY ZONE
By Lionel Ketchian

I think that warmth and intelligence are an interesting combination of words. I have not heard them mentioned together very often. Together, they offer a different perspective on living life. Of course we all want to do the intelligent thing in life and at the very least, we don't want to look like we are clueless about what to do. Bertrand Russell said, "The main thing needed to make men happy is intelligence."

My definition of happiness is an inner state of well being that enables you to profit from your highest thoughts, intelligence, wisdom, awareness, common sense, emotions, health, and spiritual values. What happens when we look at intelligence with the added aspect of warmth to it? I think that being a warm person is a very important trait to have in life.

I am sure you have dealt with people that seem to be cold and non-caring. Sometimes people are referred to as cold hearted, or are described as being cold and distant. They seem cold and distant to your needs. They may appear to be indifferent to what you are saying or just not connected to you at all. How does that make you feel? It does not make you feel warm and fuzzy, right? No, it doesn't make you feel good.

Daniel Goleman the author of Emotional Intelligence, has said, "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."

I think that getting along with others is part of our intelligence. It may be our emotional intelligence, but it is all about how smart we are. Why don't we learn to warm up more? Let's make it our business to become a little more warm and friendly. I think it will make you appear smarter and help you become more accepted by other people as well. Let's go practice being warm and intelligent by being warm and friendly, starting now!

Our next meeting is a presentation by Sarah Shapiro, the daughter of the beloved and famous, Norman Cousins. We are privileged to have Sarah as our guest speaker for our next Happiness Club meeting on Thursday, October 11th. Sarah lives in Israel and is visiting our group to meet you and speak about her father. Sarah is an author and her most recent books are Wish I Were Here, and A Gift Passed Along, (Artscroll.)

Norman Cousins knew happiness very well and he knew it at a very deep level. "Our frustrations also arise from the mistaken belief that the complexities of life preclude happiness -- that life is something from which we must flee to be happy." These words of Norman Cousins show the magnitude of his awareness of happiness. Norman also said, "Life is an adventure in forgiveness."

The meeting is on Thursday, October 11, from 7:00 - 9:00 P.M. at the Fairfield Public Library, in the Rotary Room at 1080 Old Post Road, Fairfield. Accommodations will permit only the first 120 people to be admitted. No reservations accepted. Don't miss this valuable talk. Admission is free; everyone is welcome. Meet some great people using happiness in their lives. Come on down, get connected, and step out with joy in your life! Looking forward to seeing you.

As Norman Cousins said: "Illness is not a laughing matter. Perhaps it ought to be. Laughter is a form of internal jogging. It moves your internal organs around. It enhances respiration. It is an igniter of great expectations."

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