December 29, 2004

BE HAPPY ZONE
By Lionel Ketchian

I am going to do more than just wish you a Happy New Year! I am going to bring you happiness. Yes, I will bring it to you but you know that you must take it for yourself to have it. Once you have happiness you can give it away to create more of it. But realize that you can't give away what you do not have. Happiness is the most important thing to have and the greatest thing to give.

I would like you to know that great and happy things are happening right now as we go into the New Year together. I have so much to tell you about! Happiness is happening all over the world. You can see it on the cover of many magazines. They know it is the one thing that people really want, so they try their best to bring you articles about happiness in their publications.

The most important part of happiness is you. I have been meeting more people then ever before. The internet has been a blessing in bringing like-minded people together to spread happiness throughout the world. The wonderful friends I have made have enriched my life and taught me even more about happiness. We have expanded our Happiness Club to Canada thanks to Jane Bradley. Bob Nozik, MD, is the author of the book Happy 4 Life: Here's How to Do It, and he is in charge of the California Happiness Club. We would love to create more clubs around the world.

I will be telling you about some really good books on happiness. I have found the best book ever written about happiness. The book is called Gateway to Happiness, by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin. I will share more about this book with you soon. I will also have a psychologist's view of what the Happiness Club meetings are like and what he has to say about them and about me.

I will be talking about a country that not only believes in happiness, but also considers it to be as important as their economy. We will have a beautiful slide show presentation by the famous photographer and explorer Daryl Hawk. He has traveled extensively and this past November he spent the entire month in the country of Butan. It is considered the last Shangri-La. The people are very friendly and good-natured and enjoy great health and well-being. The government of the country has realized that instead of a Gross National Product index they have a Gross National Happiness index. At our May Happiness Club meeting Daryl will share one of the greatest experiences he ever had with you.

On December 2, 2004, producer George Ortega, a resident of White Plains for 42 years, and my co-host on The Happiness TV Show, has made available over seventy half-hour TV episodes for free to the world's internet community through the program's new website at The Happiness Show http://www.thehappinessshow.com/. If you can't watch it on Cablevision of Connecticut on channel 77 on Monday at 9:30 PM or in White Plains Cable Channel 76 on Thursday at 9:00, then you can watch it on your computer. "The Happiness Show," is the world's first television program entirely devoted to helping viewers become happier. As George Ortega says, "The Happiness Show may not be the best show on television, (George thinks Seinfeld is the best show) but it is the most important one."

On June 11, 2004, PBS in Connecticut had a large group of Happiness Club members live on the air for an hour & a half special presentation. PBS aired an interview with Dr. Bernie Siegel and myself from The Happiness Show. It is called Health & Happiness, Conversations with Bernie. Dr. Siegel and I will appeared on the PBS program live to promote the newly released DVD featuring conversations between Bernie and I. This was an important opportunity to learn more of life's lessons from one of the most compassionate doctors that has ever lived.

Your mail, e-mail, comments and thoughts have made me realize how very important my work in happiness really is. I received a card for the holidays with a three-page letter in it telling me that this column, our newsletters and our website have prevented this individual from committing suicide. This is how important happiness actually is. Unhappiness is a real problem in the world and it is my intention to do everything I possibly can to educate people about the value, the benefits and the power of happiness.

A world movement is being created and we have been asked to be a part of it. Three doctors, Dr. Carole Ann Brown, Dr. Madan Kataria and Dr. Pradeep Verma have created a World Happiness Site. http://ca.geocities.com/hahehohuhohu/. We need happiness for our selves and our world for the New Year. Happy people are making a positive impact on the world. Why not join the happiness movement? What have you got to lose?

Our http://www.happinessclub.com/ website will be redone thanks to our good friend Peter Cisek. You can find a great deal of happiness information including a free subscription to the Happ-E-Newsletter, which comes out twice a month.

Our next Happiness Club meeting will be on Thursday, January 20, from 7:00 - 9:00. The presentation will be "How to Have A Happy New Year!" It 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 have a very Happy New Year!

Lionel Ketchian is the founder of the Happiness Club, a Happiness Coach, and can be reached at PrintLRK@aol.com. The Web site is http://www.happinessclub.com/.