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!
Be Happy...Be Your Best!
Lionel

Happ-E-Quote:) "We know what we are, but know not what we may be." - William Shakespeare

Happ-E-Mail:) Thank you for including me on your mailing list in the future. Have a great day! And thanks for reminding people of the importance of attitude... uk

Happ-E-Course:) Class starts October 15th, this is your last chance to take the four week course I teach called, "Be Happy No Matter What!" at Sacred Heart University's Fairfield Campus. Held every Tuesday beginning 10/15-11/5 from 7:00-9:00 P.M. Call Gloria at SHU 365-7587 today for registration. Cost is only $89 for one month of Happiness Training!

Happ-E-Quote:) "If we can augment our gift giving by giving more of ourselves to those we love, all the time and in various ways, we will have a good chance of helping them and ourselves live happier, better lives." - Earl Nightingale

Happ-E-Mail:) Hello Lionel, How are you? I hope your year has been a good one! Mine has been very good. I am now married, enjoying time with my wife and a semester off from teaching. I am living in Lexington, KY for the rest of the year. I thought I would let you know about this fundraising concert I am doing for the basket brigade. I am touring the Northeast with a guitarist, Doug Smith from Oregon. We had a free day and decided to do a concert to raise some desperately needed funds for the basket brigade. All the best, see you soon, Andrew

Benefit Concert for the Thanksgiving Basket Brigade Features Two Guitar Virtuosos
Andrew Leonard, classical guitarist -- "Leonard is a guitarphenomenon" Portland Phoenix
Doug Smith, steel string guitarist -- "inviting melodies....stunning fingerpicking" Billboard Magazine THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24 New Haven, CT 8:00 PM First & Summerfield United Methodist Church (corner of College & Elm St) Minimum Donation $15 (feeds 2 people on Thanksgiving) contact: Coordinating Council for Children in Crisis 203 624-2600 ext. 300 Since 1994, on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, 30 or more volunteers have been putting together and delivering baskets with all the fixins' to those in need in the greater New Haven area. Among the people fed are single mothers moving out of shelters and into apartments, who cannot afford a Thanksgiving dinner and housebound senior citizens. A $250 donation feeds 10 families or 40 people! $200 feeds 8 families! $100 feeds 4 families - 16 people! $50 feeds 2 families! $25 feeds 1 family of 4! and the minimum donation of $15 feeds 2 people -- a senior couple and gets you a ticket to the concert! Even if you cannot attend you can still help. Just send a check to: CCCC (the Coordinating Council for Children in Crisis) 131 Dwight Street, New Haven, CT. 06511 (indicate basket brigade in the "memo" section). CCCC is a non profit organization who has been providing client names and assistance to the Basket Brigade.

Happ-E-Quote:) "The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands." - Robert M. Pirsig

Happ-E-Mail:) It occurred to me that as the club's following grows, particularly with respect to people who want to participate but who don't live in this area, meetings could be webcast if we could get someone with the technical expertise to do a hook up to the Internet. That would allow anyone with a computer anywhere in the world to tune in. Sporting events are webcast all the time, in fact, sometimes I tune in a high school football game in Texas on my computer for which a friend of mine does the play by play. Fairfield University's radio station does a webcast of some of the Bluefish games. I listened to a webcast of an institutional investor meeting in Quebec last week that was great. I could even watch the slides from the guy's PowerPoint presentation on my screen as he went through them for the audience. It was almost better than being there! Think about it. There are ways to get this message out and technology is the way to create some leverage. Regards, Bill Kennedy

Happ-E-Quote:) "The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people." - Theodore Roosevelt

Happ-E-Mail:) Dear Lionel, Thank you for taking the time to come to St. Paul's Episcopal chruch and talk with my youth group. I am blessed with teens who are spiritual and pretty grounded in their faith. All the teens that you met with tonight are active and church going. They share their faith in many ways in and out of the parish. They were very happy that you came tonight and many happy thoughts were being expressed as they left to go home. Lionel you have opened their minds to the possibility to be happy all the time. This opens many doors for them. I hope you will come again and share with us in dialogue as well as prayer. God Bless you in your ministry, Barbara Holmes

Happ-E-Quote:) "Out of your vulnerabilities will come your strength." - Sigmund Freud

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.

Happ-E-Quote:) "Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but a manner of traveling." - Margaret Lee Runbeck

Happ-E-Meeting:) Our meeting on "HAPPY BOOKS" will take place on Thursday, October 24, 2002, at the Borders Book Store at 1499 Post Road, Fairfield. There will be a presentation by Lionel Ketchian. Please join us for coffee and discussion, and win a basket of books.

Topic:) "Happy Books!"
Date:) Thursday, October 24, 2002
Time:) 7:00 - 9:00 P.M.
Place:) Borders Book Store
Address:) 1499 Post Road, Fairfield, CT 06430

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

Directions to the Borders Book Store
>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.
>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.

BE HAPPY ZONE
Fairfield Citizen-News
October 9, 2002

STEPPING STONES!
By Lionel Ketchian

Dr. Bernie Siegel, give us this insight: "...recognize that if you don't like your life and if you can't change your external circumstances at this point, you can change your attitude toward your life. You can say, "I choose to be happy. I choose to view what I do every day as a way of contributing love." When you go about your life with this attitude, you'll find that your circumstances do begin to change."

At our last Happiness Club meeting Lisa Simms, one of our lecturers gave us the following presentation. This is what she instructed everyone to do. "I am going to pass around a basket. In this basket are small river stones. I want all of you to take a stone and while you do that, I will explain what you will be doing with them." Since you can't reach into the basket, the next time you go outside look for a smooth small stone and pick it up and put it in your pocket.

I want you to think of what is keeping you from achieving your happiness. Don't be fooled with thoughts of "If I only had more money," or "If only I had a bigger house," or "If I only liked my job," or the like. These things may make your life less stressful but they are actually easy to accomplish. If these were the things you need to make you happy, then why haven't you done them? It is obviously something else. Then this stone is going to help you to identify exactly what it is that you need to focus on to make yourself a happier person.

It is easier to pave your way to happiness if your "stumbling blocks" are more visible. I want you to think seriously about yourself and identify exactly what it is that is keeping you from being happy. Now attach that one thing to your stone. By doing this, you are making it much more visible. Carry the stone with you everywhere you go. Take it out, look at it, and touch it. Problems are easier to fix when they are out in the open. Kind of like a leaking pipe. If it's behind the wall, you don't know it's there until it's almost too late. By using the stone you are sort of removing that wall and making your "leak" visible.

Once you have identified your "stumbling block" or wall, then it's time to work through it. Turn your stumbling block into a stepping stone. Use the stepping stone as a start to building a new path to happiness. If you discover that it is more than one thing, then work them out one at a time. Don't "multi-task," it's too stressful. This should not add stress, it should lessen it. Take them on one at a time. Once you have worked it all out, toss your stone into a river, lake or ocean and let the water carry it away. Let go of whatever it was that was keeping you from being happy.

If it helps, keep a diary. Sometimes it helps to get your thoughts on paper. But just don't hang on to the paper. Toss it out. If you have a wood stove or fireplace, burn it. Otherwise, just toss it away. Don't leave it out to reread later. The object is to just get it out, not hold onto it. Let go of your negativity, sadness or whatever it may be. You can even reward yourself when you are done. Congratulate yourself on a job well done. Buy yourself an ice cream cone or take a long hot bath. Whatever you want to do to celebrate is fine.

I am not promising that this will work overnight, but it will help you to see just what it is that you need to do to live a happier life. Once you identify that one key thing, work it out and let it go. Don't dwell on it. That's why I want you to throw your stone away once you have worked through your "stumbling block." You will be turning you stumbling block into a stepping stone that will ultimately pave your way to a whole new world of happiness."

Jane Truax has said: "Botanists say that trees need the powerful March winds to flex their trunks and main branches, so that the sap is drawn up to nourish the budding leaves. Perhaps we need the gales of life in the same way, though we dislike enduring them. A blustery period in our fortunes is often the prelude to a new spring of life and health, success and happiness, when we keep steadfast in faith and look to the good in spite of appearances."

Last chance to take 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. Call Gloria at SHU 365-7587 for registration. The first class will be filmed by four film students of the graduating class of Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) from New York. Raeanne Wright is doing a film documentary about happiness, it is her Senior Film Project Thesis. You need to be comfortable with the fact that this class will be documented on film for educational purposes.

Robert Louis Stevenson had a debilitating illness that left him in bed without having the ability to get up and around. He really knew a great deal about happiness, and this is one of his powerful statements:
"There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy. By being happy, we sow anonymous benefits upon the world."

Our next meeting is Thursday, October 24, 2002, from 7:00 - 9:00 PM at Borders Books, Music & Cafe at 1499 Post Road, Fairfield. The topic is "HAPPY BOOKS," there will be a presentation by Lionel Ketchian. Please join us for coffee and discussion, and win a basket of books. It is open to the public and admission is free.

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.

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