Welcome to our second Happ-E-Newsletter for March 14, 2001.

This is a bimonthly newsletter whose purpose is to remind you to be happy. It will also let you know about meetings, happiness information, and a copy of the Be Happy Zone Articles published twice a month in the Fairfield Citizen-News. Read today's article: ARE YOU HAPPY?

Enjoy it, pass it on to your friends, and give us your feed back.

Happ-E-Power: Keep focussed on what you want. If you keep thinking about what you don't want you will focus on the wrong things. Use Happ-E-Power to focus on what you want to happen. Unhappiness throws you completely off track. Don't allow yourself to get side tracked with unhappiness. Stay on track with Happ-E-Power, it will get you where you want to go every time, unhappiness won't.

Happ-E-Health: USA Today had an article on emotions and how it affects health. They did a study on a number of couples and found those that were happy in their marriage had reduced blood pressure after the three year study. Those that were not happy had a significant rise in blood pressure. Better be happy!

Happ-E-Joke:
Q. How many happy men or women does it take to change a light bulb?
A. Only one! When a happy person gets a bright idea, nothing can stop him or her.

Happ-E-Wealth: People like to know you are there for them. Be a friend, send them an e-mail, make a phone call, send a card, or find a way to show them you care. I just did! It's true that you help the other person. But it is also true that your really helping yourself to a large share of happiness. Want to be happy? Make someone else happy. Goodness is it's own reward. Spread the "Happiness Wealth," give happiness away to as many people you can and as much as you can. When you do this you will experience a flood of happiness back in your life. You can bank of "Happiness Wealth," the more you spend and give away, the large your happiness account grows.

Happ-E-University: Don't miss the next upcoming course called "Personal Power and Success Through Happiness," at the Fairfield Campus of Sacred Heart University, will be held every Tuesday beginning March 20 to April 10 from 7:30 - 9:30 P.M. Call Gloria at SHU 365-7587 for registration.

Happ-E-Meeting: Join us for the next HAPPINESS CLUB MEETING
March 15, 2001, ALL YOU NEED IS...HAPPINESS

Presentation by Lionel Ketchian and Tom Finelli
Date: March 15, 2001
Place: Fairfield Public Library
(In the Memorial Room, seating limited to 50, for this meeting only.)
Address: 1080 Old Post Road, Fairfield, CT 06430
Time: 7:00 - 8:30 P.M.

Open to the Public and Admission is Free
Call Lionel Ketchian (203) 258-7777 or E-mail: PrintLRK@aol.com
http://www.happinessclub.com

Directions to the Fairfield Public Library

from New York - I- 95, Exit 21, Mill Plain Road, Right at bottom of ramp. Under railroad overpass. Left at light (Rt. 1), 1/2 mile on right

from New Haven - I- 95, Exit 22, North Benson Road. Left at bottom of ramp. Under railroad overpass. Right at light (Rt. 1), 1/2 mile on left


Happ-E-Birthday: Tom Finelli!!! Tom is our Web Master. He is happy and he knows it. We are happy with him and want to show it! Thanks for all you do. Tom, we all want to wish you A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND MANY MANY HAPPY RETURNS!

Be Smart! Stay Happ-E!
Hope to see you at the meeting!
Lionel

BE HAPPY ZONE, By Lionel Ketchian
March 14, 200, Fairfield Citizen-News

ARE YOU HAPPY?
"Happiness is a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you," this is a quote by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Tamara, my daughter-in-law, sent me the above quote last week. The next day I was putting sunflower seeds in the bird feeder for the big snowstorm we were expecting. I decided to try to hand feed some birds in my backyard. I put some crushed walnuts in my right hand and extended it. I stood absolutely motionless, and completely quiet in very cold weather.

Within a few minutes, for the first time in my life, a bird landed on my hand. It was a Black Capped Chickadee, a cute tiny bird. It flew onto the tip of my fingers, picked up a piece of walnut and flew off to enjoy it. Soon it returned to land on my hand again. This time it picked up a piece of walnut and dropped it on the ground. Then it picked up another and dropped that on the ground as well. Finally it selected a third piece, which must have been just the right one, and flew off with it. It trusted me enough to take its time and make sure it had a nice delicious piece.

It was not long after this event that I realized I had read the quote just the other day. Now I can say, "Happiness is a Black Capped Chickadee, a cute tiny bird, which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you."

For me an interchange with nature is an unforgettable occasion in my life. It is nothing less than a spiritual experience. This made me realize that happiness requires us to quiet down and allow things to come to us. The more we pursue things that are beyond our grasp, the more they move away. The faster we pursue them, the faster they move away. Happiness requires us to relax, become quiet, and act as if we will get what we expect without being upset when we don't.

Happiness, like the greatest things in life requires patience, gentleness, and knowledge of what is possible. I did not tell you about the book I received during the holidays from Tamara and my son Glen called Hand-feeding Backyard Birds. I read it and knew what kinds of birds were most likely to hand feed. I also knew which food is the number one favorite. I had read the book and thought, I'll never be able to do it, it seems the odds are against me.

Being happy is a similar thing. You may not think you can do it. If you learn enough about it, you can do it. The important thing is knowing it has been done. This allows you to know it can be done, because it has been done before. Remember the four-minute mile. People did not believe it was possible to run a mile in less than four minutes. As soon as one person did it, the record began to be broken over and over again. What one person can do, anyone can do.

Is it possible to be happy all the time? Yes, it is!

How is it possible to be happy all the time? Being happy all the time does not mean bad things don't happen to you. It just means you are able to handle them and not let them make you helpless and hopeless.

How can I be happy? You can be happy by making happiness a decision, and by choosing happiness all the time. You can be happy by not allowing a situation, or a person to make you unhappy. By not giving up your happiness, because happiness is what we all want more than anything else.

Why is happiness important? When things make you unhappy, you lose your power. In fact you give your power away to the things that make you unhappy. For example when you think someone makes you unhappy, the truth is you have given your power to the person to do that. Happiness is an issue of power. Take your power back!

What if something bad happens? That is when you need happiness the most. Happiness should be your strategy for dealing with negative things. When bad things happen you need all the balance, wisdom and endurance you can find. Happiness allows you to access your emotional intelligence. This is what you need the most at times of hardship and stress. Happiness is your connection to yourself. It is in times of difficulty that you need to control your thinking, so you do not allow stinking thinking. You become unhappy as a result of your thinking, not what has happened to you. Your reaction, your thinking makes you unhappy, not the event.

How can I make happiness work for me? The decision to be happy allows you to find out when you are off track. Just as soon as you realize you are unhappy, you are in control of changing your thoughts to allow you to choose happiness and get yourself back on the right track. You can practice being happy even when you feel unhappy. Even when you are pretending to be happy, you start to make yourself feel happy. Act as if you are happy and you become happy. Once you are operating with happiness you access your best thoughts, change your negative ones, and your whole state of mind is peaceful. You begin to be flooded with choices, alternatives, and options. You will begin to have ideas that will get you the best solutions to the problems you face.

What if there is no solution to my problem? If there is no solution then, you have no problem. You have something that you do not like and cannot change. In this case you are the problem. You will remain unhappy unless, and until you change your attitude toward what you think will not change.

Do I have to live with what I don't like? If you can change it -- change it! If you can't change it, then learn to love it, or it will make you unhappy. Once you change your attitude about the thing you can't change and don't like, it usually changes all by itself. When you stop fighting with what you can't do anything about, the problem usually vanishes. What you resist -- persists. Remember the Serenity Prayer and let happiness show you the wisdom to know the difference between what you can and cannot change.

How do I learn more about Happiness? Come to our meetings, read some good books on happiness, attend a course given only twice a year at Sacred Heart University. An upcoming course called "Personal Power and Success Through Happiness," at the Fairfield Campus of Sacred Heart University, will be held every Tuesday beginning March 20 to April 10 from 7:30 - 9:30 P.M. Call Gloria at SHU 365-7587 for registration.

When is the next meeting? We have free meetings every month on Thursdays. Our next meeting is tomorrow, March 15, 2001, from 7:00-8:30 P.M. The topic is "All you need is Happiness!" Meetings are held at the Fairfield Public Library, located at 1080 Old Post Road. This meeting will be held in the Memorial Room, and will be limited to 50 people.

When can I be happy? Stretch out your arm and as you open your hand, realize that happiness is right there in the palm of your hand. It has always been within you. Be Happy! It's time!

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

Click here: www.happinessclub.com

© Copyright 2001, Lionel R. Ketchian, all rights reserved.