Happ-E-Newsletter for March 1, 2002

Happ-E-Thought:) "A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes." - Hugh Downs

Happ-E-Purpose:) Reminding you to make the "Happiness Decision." Our next meeting date, more happiness information, and a copy of the latest Be Happy Zone Article that is published twice a month in the Fairfield Citizen-News. Read today's article called: A HAPPINESS FORMULA. Make sure you read this article it contains a real formula for you to learn how to be happy and stay that way.

Happ-E-Thought:) "It's in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped." - Anthony Robbins

Happ-E-Mail:) I thought you would appreciate this! Hope all is well and happy with you! Best Regards, - Margaret

SMILING is infectious, You catch it like the flu
When someone SMILED at me today, I started SMILING too
I passed around the corner and someone saw my grin
When he SMILED, I realized I'd passed it on to him.
I thought about that smile, then realized its worth,
A single SMILE just like mine could travel 'round the earth.
So if you feel a SMILE begin, don't leave it undetected.

LET'S START AN EPIDEMIC QUICK AND GET THE WORLD INFECTED!
KEEP THE SMILE GOING BY SENDING THIS ON TO A FRIEND
Everyone needs a smile !!

Thank you Margaret for sending us "SMILING is infectious." You are most certainly right about that so KEEP THE SMILE GOING and GOING and GOING.

Happ-E-Thought:) "I am more and more convinced that our happiness or our unhappiness depends far more on the way we meet the events of life than on the nature of those events themselves." - Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767 - 1835) German scholar, philosopher, diplomat, educator

Happ-E-Book:) I would like to recommend a book I just finished called Heaven's Gate
by the author John W. Herbert. John has written a science fiction adventure novel with some great spiritual thoughts. It allows us to see how Love is more powerful than hate.

From Heaven's Gate... It is not difficult, it is really a matter of choice. Whatever your feeling is at the moment, you simply decide whether you like it or not. If you don't you just let it go. Why hang on to a feeling that makes you miserable. What is so hard about that?
From Heaven's Gate... So you are saying that if we feel bad all we have to do to feel better is to choose again, and we can change the outcome? Correct.

You can order a copy of Heaven's Gate by John W. Herbert at: http://www.1stbooks.com/bookview/7947.
The paperback is $11.95 or you can order an Electronic Book for $4.95.

Happ-E-Mail:) Thanks to Ron Tuccillo for sending us this great e-mail called:
I believe

I believe... that we don't have to change friends
if we understand that friends change.
I believe...that no matter how good a friend is,
they're going to hurt you every once in a while,
and you must forgive them for that.

I believe...that true friendship continues to grow,
even over the longest distance.
The same goes for true love.
I believe...that you can do something in an instant
that will give you heartaches for life.

I believe...that it's taking me a long time to become
the person God wants me to be...
(and I'm not there yet!;-)
I believe...that you should always leave loved ones with loving words.
It may be the last time you see them.

I believe...that you can keep going
long after you feel you can't.
I believe...that we are responsible for what we do,
no matter how we feel.

I believe...that either you control your attitude,
or it controls you.
I believe...that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first,
the passion fades and there had better be something more solid to take its place.

I believe...that heroes are the people who do what has to be done
when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.
I believe...that money is a lousy way of keeping score.
I believe...that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing
and have the best time.

I believe...that sometimes when I'm angry,
I have the right to be angry,
but that doesn't give me the right to be unkind.
I believe...that just because someone doesn't love you
the way you want them to doesn't mean
they don't love you with all they have.

I believe...that maturity has more to do with what types
of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them
and less with how many birthdays you've celebrated.
I believe...that it isn't always enough to be forgiven by God
and others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I believe...that no matter how badly your heart is broken,
the world doesn't stop for your grief.
I believe...that our background and circumstances may have
influenced who we are, but...
we are responsible for who we become.

I believe...that just because two people argue,
It doesn't mean they don't love each other.
And just because they don't argue,
it doesn't mean they do.
I believe...that you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret.
It could change your life forever.

I believe...that two people can look at the exact same thing
and see something totally different.
I believe...that your life can be changed in a matter of hours
by people who don't even know you.

I believe...that even when you think you have no more to give,
when a friend cries out, you will find the strength to help.
I believe...that credentials on the wall do not make you
a decent human being.

I believe...that the people you care about most in life
are taken from you too soon.
Send this to all the people YOU BELIEVE IN... I just did!

Happ-E-Thought:) "Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happ-E-Mail:) Thanks to each and every one of you for sharing your caring words and thoughts. Please let us hear from you, spread your happiness, that is the surest way of Being Happy!

Happ-E-School:) If you want to know more about happiness, and earn your BHD, for "Being Happy Daily," sign up for my course "Be Happy, No Matter What." It is held at the Fairfield Campus of Sacred Heart University, four Tuesdays in April, from April 9, through April 30, from 7:00-9:00 PM. Call Gloria at SHU 203 365-7587 for registration. Don't miss this opportunity.

Happ-E-Meeting:) Join us for our next meeting! The HAPPINESS CLUB will present: "SPRING INTO HAPPINESS." Lionel Ketchian will be talking about the subject so don't miss this valuable meeting, and meet wonderful people using the benefits of happiness in their lives.

Topic:) "SPRING INTO HAPPINESS"
Date:) March 21, 2002
Time:) 7:00 - 8:45 P.M.
Place:) Fairfield Public Library
In the:) Rotary Room
Address:) 1080 Old Post Road, Fairfield, CT 06430

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 make a left at light (Post Rd.), 1/2 mile on right at the corner.
From New Haven - I- 95, Exit 22, North Benson Road. Left at bottom of ramp. Under railroad overpass make a right at light (Post Rd.), 1/2 mile on left at the corner.

BE HAPPY ZONE
Fairfield Citizen-News
February 27, 2002

A HAPPINESS FORMULA
By Lionel Ketchian

Yes, a happiness formula that will help you understand happiness, and how it can work for you. It is called the DOC Formula for Happiness. The letter D is for DECISION, O is for OBSTACLE, AND C is for CHOICE. The formula goes like this, Happiness = Decision - Obstacle + Choice. You can now become your own Happiness Doctor. Your decision to be happy is negatively affected by obstacles and controlled by your choice.

You must make the decision to be happy now. The moment you make a decision you create power with it. Your life is too important to be left to mere chance. By making this decision you change from passive to powerful, and this really gives you the power to carry out your decision. Anthony Robbins puts it well: "It's in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped."

Let's start off with your decision to be happy, you now have 100% happiness. If you don't start off with happiness, you're never going to find happiness. Happiness is an inside job. Everyone can be happy right now, even with your problems.

Let's say you are 100% happy now. Very soon an OBSTACLE in life happens to you. It will overcome you if handled in the wrong way. It can be overcome, if handled in the right way. The first step is to understand that life is presenting something to you that you are seeing as an obstacle. The second part of the formula is, Decision - (minus) Obstacle. You have to deduct the obstacle from the 100% happiness you had.

Let's say that having no problem represents 100 on the obstacle scale, and having a very big problem represents 0 on the obstacle scale. Than if you have a flat tire, and it represents 50 on your obstacle scale than you have deducted 50 from your 100% happiness and you are left with only 50%. Once you are under 51% you have given up controlling interest in managing your life. Unhappiness is lack of control. Happiness is control.

If you treat a problem on a scale of 0-100 as a 90 and if 0 = a sledgehammer and 90 = a feather. You are better off hitting yourself with the feather than the sledgehammer. You have to find a way to reduce the problem in your mind with the right choice so you do not hurt yourself. The feather allows you to be light on yourself and more accepting of things and change them the best way you know how.

What happens when you have an obstacle? You run up against an obstacle and you lose your happiness. You think that the obstacle you are facing is exactly what will take your happiness away. It is necessary not to make the obstacle more than it is. Why not accept it as just something that can happen to anyone, this time around it happened to you. It is what you can do about it that really matters.

Now, what do we do about it? The last part is Obstacle + (plus) Choice. What choice you make will determine how much happiness and power you will have. Your choice and not your problem will determine this.

You can even make a choice to live with the problem you cannot change. This immediately raises your acceptance of the problem and gives you back the happiness you were losing. You are back in control again and balancing the scales to 100%, back in your own favor. When you think more about the problem than you think about the solution, you lose all control. That is how you get wrapped up in the problem and lose your happiness. You can take control of the obstacles in your life, by making the best choices.

Happiness = Decision - Obstacle + Choice. You must have the intention, the decision to be happy, you must handle the obstacles that come your way by making the best choices you can. You must want happiness even more than you want to get rid of the problem.

You can think of the happiness formula with decision as the highway, and obstacles might be the weather, traffic and construction delays, accidents, and choice would be the steering wheel. As long as you stay on the highway and have taken hold of the steering wheel, you have ultimate control over your destiny. The obstacles along the way increase your driving proficiency, and make you a better driver. By taking control your able to see that what other people call problems are just life's little bumps in the road.

Two thousand years ago during the years 55-135 AD, a Greek slave named Epictetus became a philosopher. He said these profound words: "There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will." Why does it take mankind so long to learn that happiness is in our control? I don't have the answer to that question, but I do have the Formula for Happiness.

Being happy will sustain you for the rest of your life. Without the decision to be happy, you will never be happy. With the decision, the obstacles you encounter will only make you more determined. Happiness is power because of the control you have over yourself, by making the best choice for every obstacle you encounter. We live in a country that gives us the freedom to carry out our own pursuit of happiness. You have the power to make your life the best it can be. CHOICE is your God given right. Choose wisely, choose well, and by all means, always choose happiness.

If you want to know more about happiness, and earn your BHD, for "Being Happy Daily," sign up for my course "Be Happy, No Matter What." It is held at the Fairfield Campus of Sacred Heart University, four Tuesdays in April, from April 9, through April 30, from 7:00-9:00 PM. Call Gloria at SHU 203 365-7587 for registration. Don't miss this opportunity.

Join us for our next Happiness Club meeting Thursday, March 21, from 7:00-8:45 p.m. The topic is "Spring into Happiness," and will be held in the Rotary Room, at the Fairfield Public Library, located at 1080 Old Post Road. There is no charge for the happiness you gain, or the meeting!

The next time someone tells you they can't be happy. Show them the DOC Formula for Happiness and tell them -- do the math!

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

Share a smile and forward this Newsletter to your friends. Or, it's FREE, and easy to subscribe. Just send your e-mail to subscribe at: Happinessclub@aol.com, or subscribe online at: http://www.HappinessClub.com

Happ-E-Thought:) "Be happy with what you have and are, be generous with both, and you won't have to hunt for happiness." - William E. Gladstone (1809 - 1898) English statesman, author

SMILE AND HAPPINESS WILL BECOME YOU!
Sending Love, and Happiness to you,
Lionel

Enjoy it, and send it on to the friends you care about. Please feel free to forward this or any of the Happ-E-Newsletter to anyone you so desire. When you forward this Newsletter to others please include the credits because they have copyrights and the author(s) are due credit.

Our mailing list and your name is never sold, traded, or given to anyone outside of our organization. So you can be happy about that!

REMOVAL INSTRUCTIONS: To be removed from this list reply with "Remove" in the subject line.