I want to thank you for reading the "BE HAPPY ZONE." It has been two years since I started writing this column. Gratitude is the essence of happiness. Thank you for allowing me to practice happiness by expressing my gratitude to you. Gratitude and happiness go hand in hand to deliver the very best life has to offer. Go into each day practicing gratitude, and your gratitude becomes your attitude. Once you're "attitude's up," you'll find yourself operating at a "higher altitude."

I was thinking of putting together many of the letters I have received from all of you for writing this article. I came up with a better idea. I invite you to participate in a contest called: Smile Mail. Send in a letter telling us what you think about the "BE HAPPY ZONE" articles. Everyone who sends in a letter will receive a copy of my book, Food for Thought. The three best letters will also get the book, and receive a yellow tee shirt with "BE HAPPY ZONE" on the back and the Happiness Club with the smiley face on the front.

All submissions -- must be made by e-mail. You must write your name, address and a daytime telephone number. Anonymous letters will not be published. The e-mail address is happinessclub@aol.com. Your e-mails must be received before September 14, 2002. Winners must pick up gifts at the Fairfield Citizen-News office in Fairfield, or at the next Happiness Club meeting.

All of you have become my friends. I have met many of you and I am looking forward to meeting so many more of you at our next Happiness Club meeting. I am grateful for having you enter my life in many different ways. Some of you have shared your joys; some have shared your pain. I am grateful you were happy and shared your joy with me, and that you trusted me enough to share your pain and problems. You have made my life better by being yourself and allowing me to get to know you. I would like to thank the thousands of people that have logged onto our web site www.happinessclub.com, and who receive our free Happ-E-Newsletter.

Everyday is an important day, and can be a happy day when you are being grateful. Gratitude is the essential ingredient to happiness. If you ever find yourself being unhappy, think about something that you are grateful for and believe it or not; you can't be unhappy! The fact is that people who are unhappy are really too wrapped up in themselves, and their problems. The French have a proverb that states: "Gratitude is the heart's money." So the next time you are not exactly feeling like a million dollars, find something to be grateful for. Try it, it works!

Money can't make you happy, but happiness can make you wealthy. It can make you healthy, wealthy, and wise. It is a fact that happiness can help you live better. It can keep you healthier, help you recover from illness sooner, and will certainly positively affect your relationships. Don't mess with a happy person, you have no way of controlling them or making them react to negative things. A happy person also wants you to be happy, but they won't make you. They can't, only you can make yourself happy, but you can learn from them.

By becoming better as a result of being happy, you allow others to become happier as well. I think that happiness is very important in life. It must be learned from people who are happy. What other way is there for your children to learn happiness? There are more and more happy people all the time. It is catching on fast. It may become an epidemic if you begin being happy right now. Don't wait until the kids go to bed, Be Happy Now.

Don't miss the four week course I teach called, "Be Happy No Matter What!" at Sacred Heart University's Fairfield Campus. It is held every Tuesday beginning 10/15-11/5 from 7:00-9:00 P.M. To register, call Gloria at SHU 365-7587.

I would like to thank each and every one of you who have attended the Happiness Club meetings. Our next meeting is, September 26, 2002, from 7:00-8:45 p.m. The topic is "How to Be Happy!" 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 meeting.

I am grateful to Patricia Hines the Editor of the Fairfield Citizen-News, for having the foresight to publish this column. Much good has been done in the community by bringing positive press into people's lives. I think this column expresses the greatness of a wonderful community. It exemplifies the positive things in the media. Life is not fair, so be happy and change the world. In fact if you become happy you are changing the world for the better, for yourself as well as the person next to you. Happiness benefits you as well as everyone else in your life.

Life is short so reach out and grab happiness with both hands and embrace it with gratitude. Melody Beattie said, "Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." Make the happiness choice: be happy no matter what! Happiness is contagious, infectious and transmittable! Infect others ... send in your SMILE MAIL.

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

© Copyright 2002, Fairfield Citizen-News, All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission by the Fairfield Citizen-News

I want you to practice "Premeditated Happiness." Happiness is one of the most important things in your life. Happiness does wonders for your soul. You should know that reading this newsletter will not just make your life better; it will make the world a better place because you have decided to be happy!

Happ-E-Quote:) "No one is useless in the world who lightens the burden of it for anyone else." - Charles Dickens

Be Your Best.... Be Happy!
Lionel

Happ-E-Quote:) "You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happ-E-Purpose:) Reminding you to make the "Happiness Decision." Letting you know about our meeting dates, giving you happiness information, and the latest copy of the Be Happy Zone Article that is published twice a month in the Fairfield Citizen-News. Read today's article called: Thank You!

Happ-E-Quote:) "If you want a kinder world, then behave with kindness; if you want a peaceful world, make peace within." - Dan Millman

Happ-E-Mail:) I found these quotes on the back of my dad's cereal and thought I'd share them...Lisa Simms

"Your success and happiness lie in you...Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties." - Helen Keller

"Cherish all your happy memories: they make a fine cushion for old age." - Booth Tarkington

"What is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads." - Albert Camus

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." - Gandhi

Happ-E-Web Site:) Our Happinessclub.com is a site to see, take a look:) Click here: www.happinessclub.com. If you like this newsletter, then spread the word, and share it with your friends and colleagues. Invite them to subscribe by sending a blank e-mail to: Happinessclub@aol.com, or sign them on yourself and we will send them a note that it was from you.

Happ-E-Web Help:) We need your help with our web site, if you have web site skills please let us know. Thanks!

Happ-E-Shirts:) Our first Happiness Club Tee Shirts are ready. If you would like one of these beautiful yellow tee shirts with "BE HAPPY ZONE" on the back in dark green and the Happiness Club with the smiley face on the front in maroon, let me know. Shirts are $12 plus $4 shipping (no matter how many shirts) in the US. Outside the US prices are slightly higher. Send your check to: LRK Communications, Inc. 63 Unquowa Road, Fairfield, CT 06824 and indicate size S, M, L, XL, XXL.

Happ-E-Quote:) "To describe happiness is to diminish it." - Henri Stendhal

Happ-E-Thanksgiving:) November 24, 2002 - On this Sunday the Happiness Club will participate in the annual Thanksgiving Basket Brigade. About 50 people of all ages helped out last year by showing up and placing all the food into baskets, and then drove them to people's homes. A heart felt - THANK YOU to all of you that helped out and made donations, You have made 162 families happy for the Thanksgiving Holidays. We all experience getting a little of that happiness on ourselves. What a wonderful day of sharing happiness.

Would you like to help? We need money. Please make checks out to CCCC and write in the memo section "Thanksgiving, " or "Basket Brigade." This way they know what the donation is going toward. Send check to: CCCC, 131 Dwight Street, New Haven, CT 06511. Phone # is (203) 624-2600. Your check is 100% tax deductible. CCCC stands for Coordinating Council for Children in Crisis. They help children (and often single moms) move from a shelter to their own place. Sometimes these people do not have enough money for an elaborate thanksgiving dinner. Sometimes they are children of HIV+ parents, or someone who has lost a job, etc.

Happ-E-Christmas:) Santa arrives on Sherman Green on Saturday, Nov. 30th at 10:00 a.m. in Fairfield, CT. If you want to be happy, than help make other people happy, especially kids. Volunteer a little of your time that day! They need help with blowing up helium balloons, setting up tables and other stuff for the kids. Call Patricia L. Ritchie who is the executive director of the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce. Give her a call at 255-1011 or e-mail: patricia@FairfieldCTChamber.com Be a Santa's helper and sign up now!

Happ-E-Meeting:) Our meeting on "HOW TO BE HAPPY" will take place on Thursday, September 26, 2002, at the Fairfield Public Library at 1080 Old Post Road, Fairfield. There will be a presentation by Lionel Ketchian, Lynette Turner and Lisa Simms. The meeting will be filmed by some of the graduating class of film students from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) from New York. Raeanne Wright is doing a film documentary about our club, and about happiness, it is her Senior Film Project Thesis. You need to be comfortable with the fact that this meeting will be documented on film for educational purposes.

It is a positive film that is being made for studying the places that Americans look for happiness, and the places they really find it. She is planing on entering her work in film festivals. Raeanne will let us know when it airs on Oprah, we hope! Open to the Public and Admission is Free, refreshments will be served. Don't miss this meeting!

Topic:) "How to Be Happy!"
Date:) Thursday, September 26, 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, refreshments will be served.
Call Lionel Ketchian (203) 258-7777 or E-mail: PrintLRK@aol.com
http://www.happinessclub.com

Happ-E-Quote:) "Nothing can be more useful to you than a determination not to be hurried." - Henry David Thoreau

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.

Share a smile and forward this motivating Happ-E-Newsletter to your friends and family members you care about. Brighten their day by giving them a FREE Newsletter. Or, it's FREE, and easy to subscribe, just send your blank e-mail to happinessclub@aol.com, or subscribe online at: www.happinessclub.com.