Happ-E-Newsletter for December 1, 2004

Welcome My Dear Friend,

Thanks to each and everyone of you who donated your time, money and efforts to this year's Thanksgiving Basket Brigade. We had a great time, met new friends, saw old friends and made a difference. We touched happiness with our hearts. Thank you all so much for making this another successful year!

I have a wonderful announcement that I am extremely proud to make. You can now see The Happiness TV show anywhere in the world right now and you don't even need a TV set. You can use your computer to watch over seventy TV shows anytime you want.

The program, which premiered in White Plains on May 1, 2003, presents social science based advice about how individuals can very easily become much happier. Now hosted by Mr. Ortega and Lionel Ketchian, the show also promotes societal happiness-increase strategies like the teaching of happiness in schools.

According to Mr. Ortega, "Broadband internet customers will be able to view select episodes in high resolution streaming video at no cost. All of the over sixty episodes taped so far will also be available for free to every internet customer in standard resolution streaming audio and video formats." "Streaming media technology," Ortega adds, "is perfect for presenting the shows on the internet because it lets surfers begin watching episodes
usually within a minute of clicking their selection."

"Researchers have found," Ortega explains, "that the average level of happiness in the world is under 65 percent, and only 70 percent in the United States. In fact, Americans report feeling happy only about 54 percent of each day." Mr. Ortega is very optimistic about helping people everywhere become much happier through the show’s website. He emphasizes that, "Using experiment-based techniques from studies published in professional psychology journals, we can all very easily become much happier."

"As numerous studies show," Ortega says, "happiness is not really about the advantages enjoyed only by the world’s richer countries. In fact, the University of Michigan’s prestigious World Values Surveys, directed by Dr. Ron Inglehart, recently published findings listing the three happiest countries in the world to be Nigeria, Mexico, and Venezuela, (quite poor countries)."

Ortega, a happiness researcher himself, recommends that viewers watch his special "Bliss Mantra Method" episode which describes a powerful meditation-based method that he considers the most simple and elegant strategy for becoming happier yet developed. Through a variety of happiness methods, he predicts that entrepreneurs are poised to begin making huge profits as consumers become more aware that they can easily become much happier through simple classroom training, and happiness begins to be marketed directly "as a product."

Co-host Ketchian, a Fairfield, Connecticut resident and author of the happiness book Food for Thought, has been helping people become happier for over twenty years through college courses, a radio show, a newspaper column, an internet newsletter, and other venues. Several years ago Ketchian founded the world’s first Happiness Club in Fairfield.

In addition to presenting the episodes, the show’s website will serve as a clearing house for information about happiness. From lists of happiness researchers and promoters to many specific strategies for becoming happier, the site presents a wealth of information on happiness and provides many links to other important happiness resources available through the internet.

Aristotle considered happiness "the highest good." According to Mr. Ortega "everyone is finally awakening to the fact that happiness rules, and that becoming much happier is much easier than most of us realize." Thanks to The Happiness Show’s new website, the keys to happiness will now be much more accessible, for free, to people everywhere.

"Learn as if you were going to live forever. Live as if you were going to die tomorrow." - Mahatma Gandhi

Sending Love, and Happiness to you,
Lionel

"Keep your fears to yourself, but share your inspiration with others." - Robert Louis Stevenson
Happiness Empowerment to You! LIVE RICHLY...PRACTICE HAPPINESS!

Happiness is one of the most important things in your life. 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 does wonders for your soul. Practice "Premeditated Happiness." Happiness is an issue of power. We give our power to others for many reasons, and we think that they will make us happy. The truth is that we have given others power over ourselves. We can 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." Giving you our Happiness Club Meeting dates, brining you The Happiness Show on TV, happiness information, and your latest copy of the Be Happy Zone Article that is published every other Wednesday in the Fairfield Citizen-News. At the end of this newsletter you can read the latest article called: Searching For A "Happy Me!"

"Nothing should be prized more highly than the value of each day." - Goethe

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

Happ-E-Mail:) I have not read a newsletter that I didn't print out and post in the bathroom for my High school daughters to read and hopefully provoke some thought!! Pam from Fairfield

Happ-E-Quote:) "Life is just a mirror, and what you see out there, you must first see inside of you." - Wally Amos

Happ-E-Mail:) Thank you for sharing happiness with my and inviting me to be part of the Basket Brigade. I look forward to seeing you at the Happiness Holiday Party. Please let me know if you need assistance in set-up, clean-up, etc. Take Care! Love, Barbara Cartsounis

Happ-E-Quote:) "Enjoy life: this is not a rehearsal." - Bumper sticker

Happ-E-Mail:) My first meeting with The Happiness Club was wonderful; I enjoyed listening to you and all of the people that participated. I agree with your DOC formula. The choice part is powerful, I have believed for some years now that I make the choice to be happy or not. I am the only one that can do that; no one else can make me happy or unhappy without my choosing to be that way. I had a point in my life where I was very unhappy and truly making myself ill and finally came to the realization that the only thing I could change was myself and my attitude. What a wonderful freeing experience that was and now I choose to live this way more often than not, once in a while I feel myself back step but I quickly move up to the next step and become happy again. Thank you so much for sharing being Happy!! You will see me more often. Be Happy, Mary Blake

Happ-E-Quote:) You have no friends; you have no enemies; you have only teachers. - Author unknown

Happ-E-Mail:) Sid and I keep missing your meetings but enjoying your newsletter - AND staying happy. We are coming to help make packages for Thanksgiving at the Basket Brigade. Think happy - Act happy - Be happy - and the world is yours to enjoy! Miriam Madwed

Happ-E-Quote:) "Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." - Robert Brault

Happ-E-Mail:) "If only we'd stop trying to be happy we'd have a pretty good time." - Edith Wharton (1862 - 1937) Another quote for ya...have a great week. Bambi

Happ-E-Quote:) "Enjoy yourself; it's later than you think." - Chinese Proverb

Happ-E-Quote:) "If a man can write a better book, preach a better sermon, or make a better mousetrap, than his neighbor, though he build his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happ-E-Mail:) Hello, From My Heart, It's always a pleasure to read your newsletter. Yours is a bright light in service of humanity...fun, too! I'm attaching a gift. I feel sure you'll enjoy. It is called The Greatest Gift of All. Enjoy your Holiday gathering And Have a really nice day!

1. Prepare a list of all your guests on one sheet of paper. Leave space between the names. (about one inch should do) Title the top of the page with the holiday name (Thanksgiving, Christmas etc.) and date.
2. Make enough copies so each guest has one.
3. When everyone has arrived ask each person to write "the nicest thing they can say about each guest." Yes, even themselves. This helps the anonymity and reinforces the love of self.
4. Collect and assemble a list for each person of "the nicest things that were said about them on that day." You might title your gift like this: "These were the nicest things which were said about ________on Christmas 2004."

Happ-E-Quote:) "What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family." - Mother Teresa

Happ-E-Mail:) I woke up in a "funk" this morning for no good reason (Like there is ever a good reason) I always check my e-mail and there was your Happiness Letter. Like the letter told of the "man looking for a sign" I guess your letter was my sign. Thanks, Marty

Happ-E-Quote:) "We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise we harden." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) Poet and dramatist

Happ-E-Mail:) Great newsletter as usual. I do feel that in order to be truly happy one must learn to let things roll off their shoulders. Never carry useless baggage that can bring one's spirit down. Stay open minded to new thoughts, ideas. and creativity. Ursula Post

Happ-E-Quote:) "There is a great deal of difference between the eager man who wants to read a book, and the tired man who wants a book to read." - G.K. Chesterton

Happ-E-Mail:) A beautiful Happ-E-Newsletter for November, as I've now come to expect. Loads of good stories, quotes, and parables, all aimed at helping all of us to become happier. I know that you enjoy and respect, as I do, the work of Eckhard Tolle, in leading us to appreciate the enormous importance of the present moment in our lives. With that in mind I thought I'd send you one of my favorite quotes about the present moment: "In truth there is no life outside of the present moment." - Peter Jacobson (Spiritual teacher). To me, that says it all. As my partner, Jillian likes to say: "there is only now and not now." And "not now" isn't real. Real living only occurs in the present moment, everything else is either history or fantasy; only now is real. Anyway, keep on keeping on, my friend. I'm off for a few days in Monterey. Love and happiness, Bob Nozik

Happ-E-Quote:) "A room without a book is like a body without a soul." - Marcus Tullius Cicero

Happ-E-Mail:) Happ-E-Mail:) I am sending your messages to two local people who LOVE reading them...one a priest and another a young widow...they ask me to do it even though they can do it for themselves. I suspect they do it because I write a little note with the forwarding messages> God bless you and your entire family on Thanksgiving and always!!!!! The best is yet to be...be good to yourself today and the next time you pass a mirror wink at yourself and say" You're ok!"...used to tell my students that... to do it at night after they washed their face and brushed their teeth...some children had to get lessons in winking...boy that was fun! After they washed their face and brushed their teeth...some children had to get lessons in winking...boy that was fun! Peace! Joan E. Kleinknecht

Happ-E-Quote:) "To me faith means not worrying." John Dewey (1859-1952) Philosopher and educator

Happ-E-Mail:) ~ May the sun always shine upon you, unfailing love surround you and the
sweet light within guide your way on... ~

Happ-E-Quote:) "If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning." - Mahatma Gandhi

Happ-E-Mail:) Keep that happy news letter coming as I find it very inspiring. Thank you, I have been doing plenty of thinking in a + way these days along with a lot of writing in my spare time.

Happ-E-Quote:) "Too many people spend money they haven't earned to buy things they don’t want to impress people they don’t like." - Will Rogers

Happ-E-Mail:) I think that you'd agree that God can't make you happy unless you choose to be happy. I think that to need God or anything else in order to be happy is just an excuse for not being happy. Sid

Happ-E-Quote:) "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience." - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Happ-E-Mail:) Sent in from Dr. Bernie Siegel: "If you find yourself in hell, keep going!"

Happ-E-Quote:) "I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars." - Og Mandino

Happ-E-Mail:) May the sun always shine upon you, unfailing love surround you and the sweet light within guide your way on. Kitty Kay

Happ-E-Quote:) "You must have a room, or a certain hour or so a day, where you don't know what was in the newspapers that morning, you don't know who your friends are, you don't know what you owe anybody, you don't know what anybody owes to you. This is a place where you can simply experience and bring forth what you are and what you might be." - Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) Educator and writer

Happ-E-Mail:) I WANT TO BE ONE OF YOUR MEMBERS. I'M IN CAIRO, EGYPT ATTENDING THE COLLEGE OF ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT. THANKS!

Happ-E-Quote:) "Happiness is a perfume which you cannot pour on someone without getting some on yourself." Ralph Waldo Emerson

HAPPINESS CLUB MEETING:) Our next Happiness Club meeting will be a "HOLIDAY HAPPINESS PARTY!" We all look forward to seeing you. Come on down, meet some great people, get connected, and share the joy! Please bring a food dish or snak or drink to share with all.

Meet:) "HOLIDAY HAPPINESS PARTY!"

Date:) Thursday, December 16, 2004

Food:) Please bring a food dish or snak or drink to share with all.

2005 UPCOMING HAPPINESS CLUB MEETINGS DATES:)
Thursday, January 20, 2005

Thursday, February 17, 2005

Thursday, March 10, 2005

Thursday, April 14, 2005

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Thursday, August 18, 2005

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Thursday, December 15, 2005

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:) "Every once in a while, take the scenic route." - H. Jackson Brown, Jr. ("Life's Little Instruction Book")

Happ-E-Quote:) "Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless." - Mother Teresa

BE HAPPY ZONE
By Lionel Ketchian
December 3, 2004

Searching For A "Happy Me!"

Dear Lionel,
"I read an article, via InnerSelf Magazine that brought me to the Happiness Club web page, and then to you a few weeks ago. Since then, I have been wondering about getting in touch with you in regard to Happiness coaching. For the past couple of years, I have started wondering and searching for a "happy me," that kind of disappeared. I would like to find it again and get it back. I have tried many things on my own. This includes counseling (for a few sessions) to the many books I have read like that of Napoleon Hill, Anthony Robbins, Rev. Norman Vincent Peale, Steven Covey, Wallace Wattles, Echkart Tolle, the Bible and many others in bits and pieces. But still, "I" elude myself it seems, and wonder how can I be happy. More so, when I look at all things around me, and feel so thankful and grateful for the life I have been blessed with, still "something" eludes me. Thank you in advance for your reply." - Serge Ayotte

Dear Serge,
Thanks for your e-mail letter. I appreciate your finding me and asking me to answer your question. First of all let me congratulate you for being a person that has spent some time searching for answers. It is certainly true that the books you have been reading are some of the very best available in understanding our purpose and learning our way into happiness.

You say, "when I look at all things around me, and feel so thankful and grateful for the life I have been blessed with." My question to you Serge is how often do you look at your life with thankfulness and gratitude? Are you doing it when you first get up in the morning and throughout the day, all day, as well? Are you being grateful for all the little things that happen to you and all the things that don't happen to you, thank God? Thankfulness and gratefulness are just about 95% of happiness. In fact it may well be impossible to be grateful and unhappy. The two states just do not go together.

The other thing that comes to my mind about happiness eluding you may well be that you are trying to hard. If you want something too much, you actually push it away from you and out of reach. Being too needy can make you more needy. Happiness comes naturally without struggle. Struggle will put space between you and happiness for sure. Why don't you try easy? Let happiness happen. In regard to this very subject, let me tell you what Rev. Norman Vincent Peale said in his own words, "Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy." So here we have another dimension to become aware of and that is your own self-confidence. If you don't act like your happy, then you are probable not going to become happy.

One more thing that I think is very important about happiness. Remember that happiness is not something you will find outside of you. Happiness is inside of you my friend. Happiness will never be found in possessions, in a job, not even in family or friends. In fact happiness is not about what can make you happy. Happiness is not conditional on anything at all but you. Happiness is an attitude you bring into being within yourself. It is, as a matter of fact, an altitude that you attain by rising higher within yourself. Nothing can take happiness away because happiness is unconditional. Nothing causes happiness; it is not the effect of something else. Happiness is cause within itself. If you look for happiness out there somewhere or with someone, than you are looking for happiness as an effect of something. That is what everyone is trying to do and not succeeding. Happiness is causative; it produces a state within you that makes you much more powerful than you can be when you are unhappy.

Dear Serge, when you say, "still "something" eludes me." I have the answer for you on that as well. You are eluding yourself. Wake up and smell the coffee and drink it now. It is very important to understand that when you are unconscious you can never be happy. This is the reason that so many people are unhappy because they are unconscious. Yes, they are using their mind and they are thinking, but they are either in the past or they are projecting into the future. They are certainly not present, only a conscious person can be happy. Happiness is consciousness. It is a high degree of awareness that can only be experienced by a conscious person. Being tuned into the present moment allows you to experience happiness.

You said, "I have started wondering and searching for a "happy me," that kind of disappeared." OK Serge, it is time to stop letting the outside world tell you how to feel and act. If the "happy me disappeared," that means it was there once. That also means it is still there. Now it is up to you! Who you will nourish with you mind and thoughts and feelings? The unhappy me will always find something to complain about in your life. The happy me is there and is just waiting for you to give it permission to live your life to the fullest. It is always your choice my friend and it is up to you to decide right now.

This is not the end of the journey. This is just the beginning. We have so much support for you that if you did nothing but read these articles every other week that would be enough. Keep happiness first and foremost and it will serve you well my friend. Unhappiness is an epidemic that must come to an end because it causes so much turmoil. It makes people feel like they are helpless. Let go of unhappiness and embrace happiness with all your heart and soul. When you get the happiness feeling back you will know that you made the right choice.

I wish you more than happiness. I send you all the help I can to make your decision to be happy no matter what.

Our next Happiness Club meeting will be on Thursday, December 16, from 7:00 - 9:00 P.M. We are having a Holiday get-together. The event will be held at the Sullivan Independence Hall, Fairfield. Please bring a food dish or snack to share with others. We will have coffee and refreshments. Admission is free; everyone is welcome. Look forward to seeing you. Come on down, meet some great people, share some holiday joy and get connected, and be happy.

Do you want to see Dr. Bernie Siegel? The DVD Video: Conversations with Bernie, Health & Happiness. Dr. Bernie Siegel and Lionel Ketchian share in a delightful conversation together for over one hour. The interview took place in Dr. Siegel's home and was aired on Public TV. Three cameras were used to beautifully capture the mood and the moment professionally done by Van Gorder Studios. It will feel like you are there with us, as we journey together. Join us and share the moment now! You can order a copy by sending a check (payable in US funds) for $19.95 plus $2.00 shipping in the US, for as many DVD's as you want. Send check to LRK Communications, Inc. 63 Unquowa Road, Fairfield, CT 06824.

The DVD Video: Conversations with Bernie, Health & Happiness is available at one store: The Wisdom of the Ages, located at 1408 Hopmeadow Street, Simsbury, CT 06070. Phone #. 860-651-1172.

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.