Happ-E-Newsletter for May 15, 2004

Welcome My Dear Friend,

"Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely." - Karen Kaiser Clark

I received this mail from Joy who comes to our meetings. She sends us a wonderful quote that carries an empowering message. This is what she said: "Thanks for the Happiness Club meetings. Here's the quote I read at the last meeting. I've actually thought about a book of quotes but never did much more. Love, Joy

"I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or de-humanized." - Goethe

PBS in Connecticut will be broadcasting a special on Friday, June 11, with Dr. Bernie Siegel and myself. It is about Health and Happiness and it's called Conversations with Bernie. The special will be on Public TV in Connecticut. It will be shown on CPTV, so check your local listings in Connecticut. WEDH, TV 24, in Hartford, CT, WEDW, TV 49, in Fairfield County, CT, WEDN, TV 53, in Norwich, CT, WEDY, TV 65, in New Haven, CT. W12BH, TV 12, in Waterbury, CT.

As Jeremy Taylor once said, "Know that you are your greatest enemy, but also your greatest friend."

"If I won't be myself, who will?" - Alfred Hitchcock

Happiness Empowerment to You! LIVE RICHLY...PRACTICE HAPPINESS!

Happiness is an inner state of well being. A state of well being that enables you to profit from your highest: thoughts, wisdom, intelligence, common sense, emotions, health, and spiritual values in your life.

Happiness is one of the most important things in your life. Happiness does wonders for your soul. I want you to practice "Premeditated Happiness." Happiness is an issue of power. We give our happiness to others for many reasons, and we think that they will make us happy. The truth is that we have given others the power over ourselves. We must take our power back in order to be happy again. Now is the time to learn to use happiness in dealing with challenges and difficult people in your life so you can develop the strength to prevail. 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!

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 Articles that are published every other Wednesday in the Fairfield Citizen-News. At the end of this newsletter you can read the latest article called: Happiness Within Prison.

"Do or do not. There is no try." - Yoda, 'The Empire Strikes Back'

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

Happ-E-Quote:) "Ask yourself: Have you been kind today? Make kindness your daily modus operandi and change your world." - Annie Lennox

Thank you for your consideration and again, my compliments to you on your wonderful work in the practical application of happiness. Perhaps you would also consider letting us promote a lecture for you in the Richmond area someday. I think a happiness convention would be a lot of fun! Sincerely, William Kelly

Happ-E-Quote:) "Experience is not what happens to a man. It is what a man does with what happens to him." - Aldous Huxley

Happ-E-Quote:) "A loving heart is the truest wisdom." - Charles Dickens

Happ-E-Mail:) You are one amazing man. Your energy and enthusiasm always appears when I need it most. How do you do it? I would love to help out with the PBS special on June 11th and since no one is sick I can come and be 100% available. I feel glad that you haven't given up on me. It means so much to me to have people like you in my life. God bless you for your being, your essence, your contribution to the world, and your love. - Barbara Rudolph

Happ-E-Quote:) "People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they're not on your road doesn't mean they've gotten lost." - H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Happ-E-Mail:) Do you still need participants for the PBS event? If so, please include me in on the Happiness celebration. It sounds like a lot of fun. Very exciting. You have so much to be proud of and this event is yet another one to add to your long and growing list! You are remarkable! Who knows what will be next! Great things I am sure. Please let me know if space is available. Thanks. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Love, Barbara Cartsounis

Dear Barbara, Yes, we still have room. We look forward to seeing you.

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

The Happiness Show on TV:) Watch "The Happiness Show," We have a new time which is every Monday night, at 9:30 - 10:00 PM. Tune in and catch some happiness. Your CO-hosts are Lionel Ketchian & George Ortega. It will be broadcast in six towns on Cablevision of Connecticut channel 77. It airs in Bridgeport, Fairfield, Milford, Orange, Stratford and Woodbridge. It can be seen on Cablevision in White Plains, New York on channel 76 every Thursday night, from 9:00 - 9:30 PM.

Happ-E-Quote:) "So long as there is breath in me, that long I will persist. For now I know one of the greatest principles on success; if I persist long enough I will win." - Og Mandino

HAPPINESS CLUB MEETING:) Our next Happiness Club meeting will have a presentation called Happiness for Yourself. Come on down to the meeting. What's better than meeting some happy people? The meeting will be held on Thursday, May 20, 2004, from 7:00 - 9:00 PM at Sullivan Independence Hall - Downstairs in the rear entrance. Meet some great people. Admission is free. I look forward to seeing you at our meeting.

Meet:) Happiness for Yourself.

Date:) Thursday, May 20, 2004

Time:) 7:00 - 9:00 P.M.

Directions to Fairfield Sullivan Independence Town Hall

725 Old Post Road (corner of Beach Road)

I 95 Southbound Exit 22: Left onto North Benson Road, then cross Post Road/Route 1 and
continue one block to stop sign. Take a right onto Old Post Road and continue one block to stop sign. Town Hall is across the street on the left and Independence Hall is down the driveway from Town Hall.

I 95 Northbound Exit 22: Right onto Round Hill Road, then cross Post Road/Route 1 and
continue one block to stop sign. Town Hall is across the street on the right and Independence Hall is down the driveway from Town Hall.

Happ-E-Quote:) "The world is full of people looking for spectacular happiness while they snub contentment." - Doug Larson

This may be your last chance to attend the discussion and empowerment group called ''Getting the Most Out of Life." If you want Ray to continue having these meetings please call Ray today. Ray is having a meeting this Sunday, May 16th. The meeting will be from 7;40 to 9;00 PM at Yoga for Everybody, located at 27 Unquowa Rd in downtown Fairfield, CT. Raymond Rogers, is a Fairfield resident and the teacher of the courses, ''Life Lessons'' and ''Modern Relationship Strategies,'' Admission is free.

This is Aymee Branch and I wish all of you a happy and glorious day! Hello Happy Friends and those who are interested!!! The West Coast Happiness Club meeting will be held in San Francisco, California, Sunday, May 16, 7:00 - 9:00 PM. This month's meeting is going to be really exciting! Renato P. Almanzor, Ph.D., be speaking about "Love-based social justice: An Agenda for Happiness." Renato is a former professor of mine and believe me when I tell you his enthusiasm and quick wit are unparalleled!

Message from Renato: I will share my commitment to community development through the work I do. I've learned that "to the extent that I can know, love and understand myself is to the extent that I can know, love and understand another." Happiness in my journey, then, has come from intentionally and deliberately aligning my mission with my living. Specifically, I will share what it takes to align self-esteem to self-efficacy, thoughts to feelings to behavior, and vision to mission to planning to being to reflecting on my being, planning, mission and vision.

Renato P. Almanzor, Ph.D., experience emerges from many years consulting and training groups committed to multicultural organization development and social justice. His clients have included universities, non-profit organizations, medical clinics, and government agencies. His services range from executive coaching and strategic planning to change management and team development. He has delivered keynote addresses, conference workshops, and panel presentations on issues related to leadership for equity, cultural diversity, community development, and organizational change with a social justice agenda.

The next meeting of the Canada Happiness Club is scheduled for Thursday, May 27, 2004, from 700 - 8:30 PM in the Banker's Room of the St. Catharines Public Library, 54, Church Street. The Guest Speaker is Kimberley Simon, a Life Coach, who will be giving an introduction to The Laws of Attraction: Creating the life you want! Admission as always is free. Cheers! Jane

JANE BRADLEY pursued a degree in Psychology at Brock University in St. Catharines. She followed up with a career counseling disturbed teenagers, both in Toronto and St. Catharines, accidentally discovering her bliss. She continued to expand her front line experiences, counseling immigrants, refugees, abused women and their children, before opening her private psychotherapy practice in 1989. Her areas of expertise include relationship issues, surviving physical and sexual abuse, overcoming addictions, managing stress, depression and eating disorders.

Happ-E-Quote:) "To be able to look back upon one's past life with satisfaction is to live twice." - Marcus Valerius Martial

BE HAPPY ZONE
By Lionel Ketchian

May 12, 2004

The recent horrendous treatment of Iraqi prisoners by some of our US military, along with an e-mail I recently received, made me think about happiness within prison.

Unfortunately what we are experiencing in the newspaper headlines and all those upsetting pictures, is an example of emotional incompetence. I define emotional competence as the ability to make good choices from a healthy and happy state of mind. Emotional competence is a good description for happiness. I have said before that unhappy people make the headlines.

It is the unhappy person that makes the wrong choices. In the past, people that made bad choices had to pay for their own mistakes. Now that the world has grown small and communication is so rapid, people's emotional incompetence is affecting each and every single one of us. The detestable actions of a few have a disastrous effect on the rest of us. It will not be enough that those few individuals may have to pay for their emotional incompetence, the problem becomes the fact that we each will pay for their incompetence as well.

This is why, now more than ever, we must learn more about being emotionally competent. We must teach it to our children or it will not only seriously affect them, but also without a doubt affect each of us.

The other day I received this e-mail letter, "Lionel: Have you ever given any happiness coaching to prison inmates? I can't think of a segment of the population more in need of finding inner peace through making the happiness decision. It's common for inmates to embrace religion to help them deal with their situation; why not simple happiness? They are a group with nothing to lose and everything to gain! Not only would the convicts benefit, but the staff who have to control their rage on a daily basis would benefit too. I am a former criminal justice major and have worked in a prison. I am also a devotee of the happiness club! Just checking!" - L.H.

My reply to this insightful individual was as follows, Dear L., What a wonderful e-mail message. I love your thoughts and wisdom. Thanks for being a Happiness Club member. Your thinking is right on the mark. You understand the benefits that happiness training would produce for the inmates and the prison guards as well. In answer to your inquiry, I implemented a Happiness Program to prison inmates of a maximum security prison at Greenhaven Correctional Facility in Stormville, NY and a medium security prison at Fishfill Correctional Facility in Fishkill, NY. I have also led weekly discussion groups with Fairfield Homeless Shelter residents at Operation Hope.

You are so right about prison. There is something very interesting about the inmates I have taught. They seem to understand the happiness concept quicker and more thoroughly than most people can. It may be due to the fact that they have less to distract them. They know what their reality is and they either choose to accept their situation or live with the resistance they create to the situation. A prison guard told me that the model prisoners are the ones who accept the fact that they did the crime and therefore must do the time.

This attitude makes them the easiest ones to deal with. It also makes it easier for them to deal with their time. Once they understand they have a choice, and what the choice can be, they have a realization of happiness at the most basic level. Those that decide to be happy no matter what, and choose it in every moment, have more freedom than most people walking around do. They actually find that they have power over themselves in a very difficult situation.

You may not realize this but in our county prison, the correctional officers, or CO's as they are called do not carry guns or nightsticks. All they have is a radio, a medical pack for CPR, and a flashlight. They also have a body alarm that will send out a signal if they fall. Only a few carry handcuffs. The entire prison, the hallways and every prison cell, is on 24-hour video surveillance. Every action of the correctional officer and prisoner is recorded to eliminate abuse.

Correctional officers are given yearly service training. It includes interpersonal skills, effective communication training, CPR proficiency, and de-stressing techniques. The guard I spoke to said, "If you give them respect...you get respect." Every correctional officer has their last name on a tag sewn on their shirt. I am told that in every day life, when someone calls them by their last name, they figure it was a former inmate, because most people call them by their first name.

The fact that we call prisons correctional facilities is an interesting choice of words. We imprison people to protect society, and we use punishment as a way of discouraging the prisoners, and others from committing crimes. Are we effective in accomplishing this mission? We are punishing them, but we may not be effective in protecting society when the prisoner gets outside again. Proper training in emotional competence will not just do the prisoner a world of good; it will produce a great deal of good for the world. We can cut the failure rate, like nothing else can.

Is it really possible to be happy in prison? You may not believe me if I told you what I have found to be true. While being incarcerated you could be happy if you decided to be. Happiness leads to goodness wherever and whenever it is practiced.

Our next Happiness Club meeting will have a presentation called Happiness for Yourself. Why don't you come to the meeting? What's better than meeting some happy people? The meeting will be held on Thursday, May 20, 2004, from 7:00 - 9:00 PM at Sullivan Independence Hall - Downstairs in the rear entrance. The address is, 725 Old Post Road, Fairfield, CT. Admission is free.

Thank God for the USA. Our pursuit of happiness and freedom makes our country great. The press and news media are our watchdogs of liberty. They are our eyes, mouth and ears to insure freedom rings, so that we are all aware of it. The prison guards, at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad in Iraq, may soon become prisoners themselves.

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.

Please feel free to forward this to anyone you desire. Please include the copyrights and credits due the authors.

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

REMOVAL INSTRUCTIONS: To be removed from this Happ-E-Newsletter reply with "Remove" in the subject line.

"Don't let go of the vine." - John Weissmuller, from the film, Tarzan.
Life is full of opportunities. Go For It! Carpe diem!

© Copyright 2004, Lionel R. Ketchian, all rights reserved.