Reminding you to make the "Happiness Decision." Letting you know about our meeting dates, giving you happiness information, and your latest copy of the Be Happy Zone Article's that are published every other Wednesday in the Fairfield Citizen-News. At the end of this newsletter you can read the latest article called: NEVER BE UNHAPPY AGAIN!!!.

"What we see depends mainly on what we look for." - John Lubbock
Think Smart, Look Smart, Be Smart...Be Happy! - Lionel

Happ-E-Mail:) I found the Happinessclub web-site while looking for information about Dan Baker, Ph.D. I'm reading his book What Happy People Know and am finding my philosophy put into words. I am going through some tough times and need all the help I can get to choose to live a life of joy and not get in to the "pity party" mode. Please put me on your newsletter list. Thanks, Kathleen F.

Happ-E-Quote:) "Find your true path. It's so easy to become someone we don't want to be, without even realizing it's happening. We are created by the choices we make every day. And if we take action in order to please some authority figure, we'll suddenly wake up down the road and say, This isn't me. I never wanted to be this person." - Bernie Siegel, M.D.

Happ-E-Mail:) Thanks again to the Happiness Club for contributing to what has been an excellent senior year. I learned a lot, had a great time, and I'm excited about the future. I wish all the happiness that you spread to others comes back to you!! Well I'm writing with lots of good news. The screening last Saturday of the film, Finding Happiness was fantastic. I got unanimous positive feedback and everyone seemed to leave the theater happy! I was very pleased. Today I received even more good news: the film has been selected for the School of Film and Animation Honors Show, and will be shown this Sunday at the Little Theater in downtown Rochester, NY. I am very excited because the selection committee usually doesn't choose longer works (30 minutes is long for a student film) because they can show more students' work if they stick to shorter pieces. This past week has really been exciting and made all that hard work worthwhile! Thanks again for everything! Love, Raeanne J. Wright :) RIT, Rochester Institute of Technology, NY.

Happ-E-Quote:) "To paraphrase something the anthropologist Ashley Montagu once said, the way I change my life is to act as if I'm the person I want to be. This is, to me, the simplest, wisest advice you can give anyone. When you wake up and act like a loving person, you realize not only that you are altered, but that the people around you are also transformed, because everybody is changed by the reception of this love." - Bernie Siegel, M.D.

Happ-E-Mail:) Thought I'd also pass along another quote on happiness for your collection, though you may have already included it in your past writings and columns. Actually, I guess it's really three quotes in one! Anyway, here it is: "It is blessedness for yourself and for others if you are happy. If you possess happiness you possess everything. To be happy is to be in tune with God." Autobiography of a Yogi, by Paramahansa Yogananda. Hope this finds you happy and well as ever and enjoying the fruits of spring! And thanks for yet another wonderful thought-provoking Happ-E-Newsletter. Cheers! Barry

Happ-E-Quote:) "The ability to love oneself, combined with the ability to love life, fully accepting that it won't last forever, enables one to improve the quality of life." - Bernie Siegel, M.D.

HAPPINESS CLUB MEETING:) Join Dr. Bernie Siegel at our next Happiness Club meeting. We are having a dinner celebration to honor Bernie's work in bringing happiness to the world. Dr. Siegel is the author of Love, Medicine and Miracles. He has written several other books and is also the founder of ECaP - Exceptional Cancer Patients, in 1978. To see and listen to Dr. Siegel: Click here: Conscious Healing. Don't miss this valuable meeting, and meet some wonderful people using happiness in their lives.

The dinner meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 25th at the Peppermill Restaurant in Westport. Click here: Peppermill Restaurant in Westport, CT.
Event:) HAPPINESS CLUB DINNER WITH DR. BERNIE SIEGEL
Place:) Peppermill Restaurant
Date:) Wednesday, June 25, 2003
Address:) 1700 Post Road East, Westport, CT 06880
Time:) 6:30 - 9:30 P.M.
Price:) $32 includes tax and tip & everything complete.
Payment must be received by June 16, 2003. Seating is limited to the first 95 people.

Choose one:)
A) Aged, Boneless Prime Rib of Beef
B) Baked Stuffed Jumbo Shrimp with Seafood Stuffing
C) Chicken Cordon Blue
D) Vegetarian Plate - Roasted Vegetable Trio (eggplant, zucchini & yellow squash) tossed with penne pasta and marinara sauce.

Your choice above includes: Salad, entrée and vegetable, rice pilaf or roasted potato, soft drinks, coffee, cake and ice cream.

$32 Check payable to:
American Litho
63 Unquowa Road
Fairfield, CT 06824

Please send your check along with your choice of entrée. Payment must be received by June 16, 2003. Seating is limited to the first 95 people, if you wish to attend please send your check today! Lionel Ketchian (203) 258-7777, E-mail: PrintLRK@aol.com.

Open to the public and admission is free. www.happinessclub.com. Call Lionel Ketchian (203) 258-7777 or E-mail: PrintLRK@aol.com. You can find maps and travel directions on their web site: Click here: Peppermill Restaurant in Westport, CT.

Directions:
I-95 Northbound - Exit 19. At the bottom of the ramp, turn left. Go to light and turn left onto Route 1 South (Post Road). The Peppermill will be approx. 3/4 mile down on your left, just past Super Stop and Shop.

I-95 Southbound - Exit 19. (Southport) Travel straight on the exit ramp to the traffic light. At light turn right onto Route 1 South. The Peppermill will be approx. 3/4 mile down on your left, just past Super Stop and Shop.

Merritt Parkway Northbound - Exit 42. Make a left at the end of the ramp. Go completely straight. (road also bears right, go straight) At the second stop make a left. Make first major right onto Roseville Ave. At the first light make a left onto the Post Road. Follow almost to Fairfield. Peppermill is on the right hand side just before Super Stop & Shop.

Merritt Parkway Southbound - Take the I-95 Connector Exit 38 in Milford. Then follow directions for I-95 South. Or go to Exit 44. Take a left at the end of the ramp. At light go left onto Black Rock Turnpike. At the 5th light make a right onto Stillson Rd. (Fleet Bank across street). At the 2nd light bear left onto North Benson Rd. Follow North Benson Rd. signs for I-95 South. Take I-95 South to Exit 19. (Southport) Travel straight on the exit ramp to the traffic light. At light turn right onto Route 1 South. The Peppermill will be approx. 3/4 mile down on your left, just past Super Stop and Shop.

Happ-E-Quote:) "No one lives forever; therefore, death is in not the issue. Life is. Death is not a failure. Not choosing to take on the challenge of life is." - Bernie Siegel, M.D.

BE HAPPY ZONE
Fairfield Citizen-News
May 21, 2003

NEVER BE UNHAPPY AGAIN!!!
By Lionel Ketchian

How is that possible? Just make the Happiness Decision. Happiness is up to you. When you think about negative things, you make yourself unhappy. Start focussing on Being Happy and you will start feeling great. Perhaps you have a lifetime of negative thoughts that have become habits. If you continue your negative pattern of thinking then you will stay unhappy. I know what you're thinking -- I can't do it. I can't be happy. There you go letting your negative thinking run your life again. See how it works.

Start acting like you are happy. Start thinking about things you could be grateful for. Gratitude is the No. 1 way to be happy. You can't be unhappy if you are grateful. As Ralph Marston said, "What if you gave someone a gift, and they neglected to thank you for it--would you be likely to give them another? Life is the same way. In order to attract more of the blessings that life has to offer, you must truly appreciate what you already have." So starting right now, look for things to be grateful about. They could be very small things. Just keep focusing on finding those things. That way your mind will not be thinking about all the negative things that would normally bother you.

Are you denying your problems when you are not thinking about them? Not at all, when you let your problems, annoyances and even people make you unhappy, do you know what happens? You still have the problems, worries and negative people in your life. Except now you are so negatively affected by all of it that you become unhappy. Now you have all that negative stuff in your life and on top of that you are unhappy. The reality now is that you are less able to effectively deal with all those things you do not like.

A better choice is to remain happy and then deal with the problems, people and situations in your life. That way you will learn to make the best choices, find the best solutions for the things you want to change. There is no reason good enough to make you unhappy. You are choosing to be unhappy because you want something to be different. It can be hard to change things, and it can be impossible to change people. So why not put your energy where you can make all the difference in the world.

The Happiness Decision

I, _________________________
Do solemnly Decide
to adopt the Happiness Decision
by BEING HAPPY NOW.
Rather than react to my problems
I will use Happiness to Respond to
them forsaking all negative thoughts.
Regardless of circumstances,
IN ALL WAYS I WILL Choose Happiness
for the rest of MY LIFE.
Signed _____________________

Date ____________

Change yourself, by controlling yourself...not the situation or the people in your life. Put your energy where it counts the most. Being Happy is exactly that kind of self-control. Do you know why it is easy to do? The reason is that everyone wants to be happy. You can do it, if you don't let your negative thinking tell you that you can't do it.

For things to change, you have to change. Don't wait for things to change. You cannot always choose the external circumstances that you face. However, with the Happiness Decision you can always choose how you can respond to them. Happiness is the change you have been looking for. Happiness is controlling yourself, so you can enjoy your life. In case you haven't noticed...life is short! Now is a good time to BE HAPPY.

Start to act as if you are happy. Notice how you feel. Be smart, stay happy and you will learn to deal with people and problems better than you ever have. Remember, what you can't change, leave alone, or it will change you for the worse. Being Happy allows you to change all those things that you can change. It even makes you smart enough to know the difference.

Being Happy connects you to the inner wisdom and the common sense you already have. Be Happy, love yourself. This is the greatest way to love others. When you haven't got happiness you can't give it away. How can you give away what you haven't got? When you have no love for yourself...you have no love to give others. Be Happy…it will change the world. Smile at someone and see what I mean.

Join Dr. Bernie Siegel and the Happiness Club for a dinner celebration to honor Dr. Siegel's work in bringing happiness to the world. Dr. Siegel is the author of Love, Medicine and Miracles. The dinner meeting will be held at the Peppermill Restaurant, located at 1700 Post Road East in Westport, on June 25, from 6:30-9:30 p.m. There is a $32 charge for the dinner and reservations are required. Seating is limited, we are filling up and June 16th is the deadline. So don't miss this valuable meeting and the opportunity to meet Dr. Bernie Siegel. Call 203 258-777 for reservations and see the web site for additional information.

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.

"A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle." - Erin Majors

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Life is full of opportunities. Go For It! Carpe diem!

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