Happiness is one of the most important things in your life. Happiness does wonders for your soul. I want you to practice "Premeditated Happiness." 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!

"Every new opinion, at its starting, is precisely in a minority of one."
- Thomas Carlyle

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 every other Wednesday in the Fairfield Citizen-News. Read the latest article called: HAPPINESS LETTER.

Think Smart, Look Smart, Be Smart...Be Happy! - Lionel

Happ-E-Mail:) I'm back from sunny Arizona, 85 degrees every day-ah-h:) I want to tell you about an experiment I did. I was recently on a flight across country and I had boarded the plane rather early in the process. It was a rather big plane and though I as in row 23 there was a whole other section behind me so many people had to walk by me to get to their seats. You know how we talk about smiling being contagious? I decided to catch the eye of as many passers-by as I could and smile at them to see if they would smile back. Well, the experiment was a resounding success. There were a handful of people who did not keep my gaze, but most did and when I smiled they each smiled back. In Deepak Chopra's book The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, one of the laws is the law of giving. In it he talks about giving every person we encounter something. A happy thought, a complement-or how about a smile? Sharing smiles really made my day. Sending you a smile along with light, peace and happiness. Love, Lynette

Happ-E-Quote:) "The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled." - Plutarch

Happ-E-Mail:) I have been visiting around on your web site and loved every second I spent there!! Thanks so much :) Love, Mary

Happ-E-Quote:) All receive advice. Only the wise profit from it. - Syrus

Happ-E-Mail:) I really enjoyed checking out your website, and of course, seeing my book EnlightenUp make your list Happiness Book list. I am so humbled by what you said. You know, I was thinking that to know others is wise and yet to know yourself is so enlightening. It is this very empowerment that we are learning as we reach out and are willing to share with others. It is real happiness. Whenever I think of happiness, I think of you--The Guru of Happiness; and I smile. Thanks for making my day. Love, Peace, Blessings, and Abundance you are so deserving of. - Marianne Schorer (Marianne is the author of the wonderful book EnlightenUp.)

Happ-E-Quote:) "New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common." - John Locke

Happ-E-Mail:) To create peace, you have to be peaceful. The only way to stop war is to start from within yourself. You must do personal disarmament. The only way to get and stay peaceful is to concentrate on what brings you peace and resist the downward spiral of negative emotions that blames others for your lack of peace. Remember, that to which you give your attention expands. Although there is no
denying that we're in a perilous and frightening position right now, that doesn't mean we are powerless to change it. But the only way to do so is by changing your thoughts and emotions from those of anger, hatred, and fear to those associated with compassion and peace. - Martha S.

Happ-E-Web Site:) Again we must say THANK YOU and express our gratitude to our good friend Renee Filloramo. She has updated the Happiness Club web site. All the articles are on the site and she is doing a wonderful job. Renee, we are very grateful to you and we heartily appreciate everything you are doing to bring happiness into the world.

Happ-E-Quote:) "Life is made up, not of great sacrifices or duties, but of little things, in which smiles and kindness, and small obligations win and preserve the heart." - Humphrey Davy

Happ-E-Mail:) Just a note to let you know I always enjoy your newsletters. Seems to me I keep seeing the new term "science of happiness" -- who knows where that might lead? Would love to see happiness become the basic motivation of human activity -- replacing power and prestige as man's primary goals. Keep on trucking -- you're helping a lot of people. mike - www.happyplace.net

Happ-E-Mail:) Please sign me up for your free email newsletter. Right now my husband and I do our country dancing on that night. Is there a club that meets in Ridgefield or in Danbury? - Marcia

Happ-E-Site:) USA Weekend Magazine had their entire front cover with Happy Face Ballons and the following headline: Meet the Happiest Man in America. Check it out!
Click here: Beach man named nation's happiest (Pilot Online/HamptonRoads.com)

Happ-E-Quote:) "There are two kinds of people in this life. Those who walk into a room and say, 'Well, here I am.' And those who walk in and say, 'Ahh, there you are.' Let us each strive to be an 'Ahh, there you are' person." - Leil Lowndes

Happ-E-Mail:) Thank's again for the newsletter. I am glad people are finding true "happiness" with your club. Keep up the good work. Take Care, Scott

Happ-E-Quote:) "Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love." - Lao-Tzu

HAPPINESS CLUB MEETING:) Join us for our next Happiness Club meeting Thursday, March 20, from 7:00-8:45 p.m. The topic is "EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT ANGER" Lionel Ketchian and Alice Katz. Ms. Katz is the author of the book, "It's Not Personal! A Guide to Anger Management." We will have a panel discussion and present: The principals of anger merit and management. Don't abuse anger, learn to use anger. We will entertain comments and questions for the group. Don't miss this valuable meeting, and meet some wonderful people using happiness in their lives.

Topic:) "EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT ANGER"
The principals of anger merit and management
Don't abuse anger, learn to use anger.
Date:) Thursday, March 20, 2002
Time:) 7:00 - 8:45 P.M.
Place:) Fairfield Public Library
In the:) Rotary Room
Address:) 1080 Old Post Road, Fairfield, CT

Open to the public and admission is free. www.happinessclub.com.
Call Lionel Ketchian (203) 258-7777 or E-mail: PrintLRK@aol.com

Directions:
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.

Happ-E-Quote:) "He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still." - Lao-Tzu lived in the 6th century BC in China. He is believed to have written the Tao-te Ching.

BE HAPPY ZONE
Fairfield Citizen-News
March 12, 2003

HAPPINESS LETTER
By Lionel Ketchian

I want to share a letter with you that I received from a reader recently. He will tell you more about happiness than most people ever will.

Thank you for the Happ-E-Newsletter for March 1, 2003, which I've just read in its entirety. I feel happier already! I really do! Even if just a little. Really, it's that fast! By the time I finished reading the entire e-mail, I'd already noticed a difference. Even if just a little, there was already a definite change. If I feel just a little happier tomorrow too, and then just a little happier again the day after that, and equally the day after that, and the one after that...Well, you get my point. The possibilities are endless! Not to mention the results!!!

It's like doubling your money day after day after day from now till eternity, but the rewards here are absolutely instantaneous and far greater and ever more lasting and fulfilling than money alone could ever prove. And it costs absolutely nothing!! I mean, how simple is that? Sounds too good to be true doesn't it? Ha! And should I even wish it, I'm sure such exponential happiness shall equally and easily attract all the money I might ever need, and all in service of that happiness and not the other way 'round! (And even if it didn't, I'd already HAVE the happiness!!! Ha!)

And besides, you don't need a big fat wallet or purse to carry all your happiness with you. You wear it on your face, and in your walk, and the way you talk, and the way you treat everyone you encounter, and in every single thought you think, and every feeling you feel! People can actually feel you coming! And no matter how much happiness you have and no matter how badly someone else might want yours, no one can ever take it away from you unless you give it away yourself. It's all up to you. And if you give it from the heart, you'll just end up getting way more back than you ever gave out in the first place! Free! Without even asking for it! It's automatic! Ha! It's kinda like every dream we've ever dreamed of! Sounds like a fairy tale!

Not that I'm telling you anything here that you of course don't already know in abundance Lionel! All this from reading just one Happ-E-Newsletter! Really Lionel, I was just going to send you a very sincere and quick thank you for your warm welcome and now look what happened! Sure hope I get to send you an equally exciting report six months from now! If day one is any indication, the results shall be astronomical!

To be ever mindful still, and at every moment and every opportunity, to always, always, always "Think Happy!" That's it! I am aware of this great and simple challenge I've now placed before me, and it is likely the greatest yet simplest I shall ever achieve. That simple great achievement shall carry and lead me everywhere I wish to go for the rest of my life. I simply MUST accomplish this feat! And I think that's the key or one of them at least. Keep it simple! Great Happiness and joyful achievement doesn't have to spring forth solely from great effort or sorrow or terrible burden or hard work.

As much as all of us would too often like to, and have been taught all our lives to believe it must. In fact of course, great Happiness very rarely does spring from such things. If it comes from them at all it is usually as a secondary by-product. From our spiritual growth and other experiences and achievements gained from within those struggles and the hard work along our way. Little did we know we could have had ALL the Happiness from the very beginning, and not have to wait until we'd "achieved" all of our goals to get it!

We've of course got the cart before the horse but we just can't see it. It's too simple. What's that line I'm reminded of..."Be happy now, without any reason." And then the mind says "That's just too simple. It can't work that way!" or "It must be more difficult than that!" or "But I'm NOT happy!" or "I've nothing to BE happy about now?" or, "I'll be happy as soon as I get this or that, or when this changes or that comes," etc. We just don't get it!

And yet of course as you so very well know and so wonderfully convey Lionel, this is exactly how it works and ever has and ever shall. And all of the greatest teachings and writings since the beginning of time have assured us likewise. We are put here to BE happy, not to BECOME happy! We must carry our Happiness FIRST and foremost, and from that shall everything else follow. It of course doesn't sit well with the logical mind, which can't comprehend such "nonsense," which is why we continue to refuse to believe it when told, or simply refuse to even be willing to just try it out on a bit of simple faith or trust alone. It simply can't be that simple. Yes - It - Can! Happiness First!

I think I shall print up a bunch of "Happiness First!" and "Think Happy!" notes. To perhaps assist me in remaining securely upon the path, as continual reminder, and plaster them everywhere I can think of, big and small. And if it works, maybe I'll start dropping them around for others to stumble upon elsewhere too. Gee, it's starting to sound like a "movement" or something isn't it Lionel! Ahhh, what a great and grand epidemic it shall be!

And the contagion continues! Ha! Oooops! Here I am acting Happy again! (Kinda like Scrooge on Christmas morning eh? Ha!) Sorry for all the exclamation marks! It's hard to convey such simple re-ignited joy in an e-mail without them! Cheers! Ahhh, life is looking better already! Thanks again Lionel! Keep smilin'! - Barry Powel

Our next Happiness Club meeting will be held on March 20, from 7:00-8:45 p.m. The topic is "EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT ANGER," by Lionel Ketchian and Alice Katz who is the author of the book, It's Not Personal! A Guide to Anger Management. We will have a panel discussion and present: The principals of anger merit and management. Don't abuse anger, learn to use anger. We will entertain comments and questions from the group. The meeting will be held at the Fairfield Public Library, located at 1080 Old Post Road, in the Rotary Room. There is no charge for the meeting or the happiness you will find.

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.

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.

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.... You must do the thing you think you cannot do" - Eleanor Roosevelt

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© Copyright 2003, Lionel R. Ketchian, all rights reserved.