The New York Times Article on our Happiness Club is due out in early April.

You have been sent another e-mail with the article called Miles Of Smiles, which appeared in the March, 2005 issue of the Westport Magazine, in Connecticut.

I was watching Mother-Daughter Wisdom by Dr. Christiane Northrup, M.D. on PBS this Sunday morning. Dr. Northrup brought up many important points on happiness time and again. It was an excellent presentation and I recommend that you watch it on a PBS station in your area. Christiane Northrup, MD, obstetrician/gynecologist, is an empowering, internationally known visionary in women’s health and wellness. As a practicing physician for over twenty years, Dr. Northrup is a leading proponent of medicine and healing that acknowledge the unity of the mind and body, as well as the powerful role of the human spirit in creating health.

"People who exercise, whether it involved an intense workout or just a regular long walk, feel healthier, feel better about themselves, and enjoy life more."

- by David Niven, Ph.D. from The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People

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

Sharing Love, Peace and Happiness with you,
Lionel Ketchian

Reminding you to make the "Happiness Decision." Giving you our Happiness Club Meeting dates, The Happiness Show, on television and on the Internet, the newest 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: A Remarkable Man.

"Those who want much, are always much in need." - Horace

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

Received this from a friend, and I immediately thought of you. - Janet

I'll be happy when...

We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are. After that, we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, when we are able to go on a nice vacation or when we retire. The truth is there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when? Your life will always be filled with challenges.

It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway. Happiness is the way.

So, treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time with...and remember that time waits for no one.
So, stop waiting ...
Until your car or home is paid off.
Until you get a new car or home.
Until your kids leave the house.
Until you go back to school.
Until you finish school.
Until you lose 10 lbs.
Until you gain 10 lbs.
Until you get married.
Until you get a divorce.
Until you have kids.
Until you retire.
Until summer..
Until spring.
Until winter.
Until fall.
Until you die.

There is no better time than right now to be happy.

Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

So work like you don't need money,

love like you've never been hurt,

and,

dance like no one's watching.

"The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will have." – Norman Vincent Peale

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy. One for the newsletter maybe? Keep up the good work :-) Carol Guidi, New York

"The ideas I stand for are not mine. I borrowed them from Socrates. I swiped them from Chesterfield. I stole them from Jesus. And I put them in a book. If you don't like their rules, whose would you use?" - Dale Carnegie

Another superb Happy Newsletter! Congrats! Well, I've ordered Pliskin's happiness book.
I am in the middle of a busy period. I just got back from Florida where I gave a very well received one hour workshop on happiness at the annual meeting of AATH (Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor). I also visited my 95 year old mom who lives in Florida. On Thursday I go to Rancho Mirage (near Palm Springs) to speak to a group of Ophthalmologists at a meeting called Mentoring in Ophthalmology. I will be giving a talk: Finding Balance In Life, and the meeting sponsors agreed to purchase 80 of my Happy 4 Life: Here’s How to Do It books for all the attendees at full price; Wow! Anyway, I'll be gone till 11th. We (Aymee and I) will have our first Happiness Club meeting together on Sunday, April 17th at the main San Francisco Library, from 3 to 5 PM. So, keep on keeping on and I will too. Love and happiness, Dr. Bob Nozik

"No army can withstand the strength of an idea whose time has come." - Victor Hugo

In response to Dr. Robert Muller's Golden Sayings: "Our lives resemble those of trees: heavy winds and tempests make us stronger and dig our roots deeper. We must gain strength from every gust of adversity"

Yes, rather than becoming strong at the broken places learn to survive the way a tree does by responding to the conditions appropriately rather than rigidly resisting and breaking, it bends. From Dr. Berne Siegel

"Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterward."

- Vernon Law

Your newsletter arrived today as I sat home and reflected this past year. Tomorrow it will be one year since my husband Steve's death. I can finally say I am living authentically and happy. Through all of my life lessons I remain smiling and grateful for all the wonderful people in my life. Thank you for supporting me this year and for bringing sunshine and happiness to so many people. Barbara Rudolph

"It is easy enough to be pleasant,
When life flows by like a song.
But the man worthwhile is the one who can smile,
when everything goes dead wrong.
For the test of the heart is troubled,
And it always comes with the years.
And the smiles that is worth the praises of earth
is the smile that shines through tears."
- Ella Wheeler Wilcox

I was given information on the "Happiness Club" through a divorce support group online. I was extremely impressed with how motivating the site was. As I am facing a very difficult time in my life and could use all the happiness I can get. I would enjoy a happ-e-newsletter sent to me. Thank you for everything!

"Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterward."

- Vernon Law

I cannot be at the next Happiness Club meeting because I am teaching an adult education course on Thursday evenings. I will miss not coming. Lucky for me, the course will be over in time for the April meeting. My husband Phil, a psychologist, is reading "The Gateway to Happiness" and agrees with you that it is outstanding. He got it by calling the Fairfield Library, which then loaned a copy for him from Grand Rapids Baptist College and Seminary in Michigan! The internet shows that Rabbi Zelig also wrote a book on anger which I may try to find. Have a good meeting. I will be thinking of you. Love, Alice Katz

"Life is what we make it. Always has been, always will be." - Grandma Moses

On Monday evening, April 4, 2005 Dr. Bernie Siegel, retired general/pediatric surgeon, respected teacher and a tireless advocate of the healing power within each of us, will speak at St. Rose of Lima Church, 46 Church Hill Road, Newtown, CT at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 per person. Advance ticket sales only. Please send a self-addressed stamped envelope and check to Fran Gargano, St. Rose of Lima, 46 Church Hill Road, Newtown, CT, or call 203-426-1014 for information and reservations. Refreshments will be served in the Parish Hall following the talk. You won't want to miss this wonderful opportunity.

Thanks so much, Fran Gargano

"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another." - Charles Dickens

Hi :-) my name's Bianca (my friends call me Bee). I'd love to join your Happ-E-newsletter and also share a quote I was sent the other day, that I found particularly inspiring....

"A smile is nature's best antidote for discouragement.
It brings rest to the weary,
Sunshine to those who are frowning,
And hope to those who are hopeless and defeated.
A smile is so valuable that it can't be bought,
Begged, borrowed, or taken away against your will.
You have to be willing to give a smile away
Before it can do anyone else any good.
So if someone is too tired or grumpy to flash you a smile,
Let him have one of yours anyway.
Nobody needs a smile as much
As the person who has none to give."

- Dale Carnegie, American Author and Motivational Speaker

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

May Retreat with Bernie & Ruth

The Art of Healing Retreat that is scheduled in May with Dr. Bernie Siegel and me is filling rapidly. If you want to attend, you should send your registration forms in soon. This is an explanation of the retreat that is on Bernie's schedule.

Madison, CT, Workshop/Retreat "The Art of Healing"

with Bernie and Ruth VandenBosch, RN. Event is open to everyone.

Thank you for the positive feedback on the Westport Magazine article. It was exciting for me to see my photos reproduce so well! Congratulations to you on the great interview they did with you on the last page. I told you our paths would cross with our related missions! Based on your recommendation I bought Rabbi Plishkin's book and am reading it right now. What a brilliant mind. Hope to see you next week. Until then, all the best, Daryl Hawk

"The faster we travel, the less there is to see." - Helen Hayes (1900-1993) Actor

Thanks for recommending the book GATEWAY TO HAPPINESS, by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin. I agree with your comment that it is the best book on happiness that you've ever read. Rabbi Pliskin contains almost all the thoughts on happiness in one book. Rather than read hundreds of other books, one can learn as much from this single book. I appreciate your calling it to my attention and hope that all the members of the Happiness Club can acquire this book. Dr. Richard Ellis

"Truth does not become more true by virtue of the fact that the entire world agrees with it, nor less so even if the whole world disagrees with it." - Maimonides

Toni Spinelli here. Just a note to tell you that I have retired and moved back to Chicago. I do miss the club and you and all of the friends I made there. Please put me on the mailing list and let me know if a chapter of the club ever starts up in the Chicago area.

"Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today." - James Dean

I tremendously liked this citation from the latest Happiness newsletter. "Let us make the Earth the happiest planet in the Universe." Happily living on Earth, Robert Muller. Please give Robert a hearty "Thank you" from me for such a great wish/vision/goal/plan.

All the best always, Zelig (Rabbi Zelig Pliskin)

"There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving,

and that's your own self." - Aldous Huxley

Thanks for your article in the Fairfield Citizen about Rabbi Pliskin's book, Gateway to Happiness...I'm on the 5th chapter, and it's full of wisdom. Enjoyed the meeting and the fellowship afterwards. See you next month. Perseverance is the key that unlocks success. Watch the Happiness moment take off..I'm excited for all the new people who's lives will be transformed. The one intelligence always picks the correct teacher.

Warmest Regards, God Bless, Peter Geoghegan

"The last of the human freedoms is to choose one's attitudes." - Victor Frankl

If you think you can or you think you can not, both ways you are right.... Uplifting Happiness Club meeting...Kiaora, Dal

"Unshared joy is an unlighted candle." - Spanish Proverb

I would like to receive the happiness newsletter, as I am doing a project on it. Thank you very much, Christine

"Nothing would be done at all if a man waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault with it." - John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

I truly enjoy reading your column in the Fairfield Citizen. I first started reading it when I was experiencing a low point in my life. You are a unique individual, given that you started everyone thinking and looking at happiness in different ways. Happiness to me was something I truly never had to think about, but as I grew older I had to work at being happy and that’s how I got to your column. I have been trying to obtain a copy of, "Gateway to Happiness" by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin. Thanks, Phyllis Selig

"He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Field Notes on the Compassionate Life by Marc Ian Barasch.

It is subtitled: A Search for the Soul of Kindness

and published by Rodale, this March 2005; $24.95 US/ $35.95 CAN; 1-57954-711-7

The following is an excerpt from the just published book:
Life offers up its own daily catechism, even if it's just seeing people in a little better light. Why not just resolve to give everyone the benefit of the doubt? "If we treat people as they ought to be," said Goethe, almost nailing it, "we help them become what they are capable of becoming." Or more to the point: Treat them as they already are, if we but had the Good Eye to see it.

Once, at a conference, I noticed a man striding toward me, his face alight. He seemed really happy to see me, but I didn't have a clue who he was. When he got closer, he pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose, peered at my face, looked down at my nametag, took a step back.

"I'm so sorry," he said, embarrassed. "You looked just like a friend I haven't seen for years. You even have the same first name ... so when someone pointed you out. . ." He trailed off; the effusive warmth seeped away. I told him it was fine. His Good Eye had enveloped me in a gaze of anticipatory delight that made me feel golden. We wound up having lunch. He told me about his research (which coincidentally dovetailed with my own); he talked about the happiness and sorrows of raising a young daughter with multiple sclerosis (for everyone is fighting a great battle). We still stay in touch.

Maybe we should all take off our glasses and hope for more cases of mistaken identity. For that matter, it might be unmistaken. Why not welcome everyone as some long-lost cousin, sprung from our African mother, bumping into each other again after a fifty-thousand-year separation. Wonderful to see you after all this time -- you look great!

Copyright © 2005 Marc Ian Barasch

Watch "The Happiness Show," every Monday night, at 9:30 - 10:00 PM. Your co-hosts are Lionel Ketchian, George Ortega. The TV show is broadcast in six towns on Cablevision of Connecticut channel 77. It airs in Bridgeport, Fairfield, Milford, Orange, Stratford and Woodbridge. Watch "The Happiness Show," every Thursday night from 9:00 - 9:30 PM on Cablevision in White Plains, New York on channel 76.

We are proud to present, at no charge, over eighty 28 minute episodes we've taped so far in streaming audio (for 28.8 Kbps+), streaming video (for 56 Kbps+), and Select episodes in broadband streaming video (for DSL, cable, wireless and satellite) Internet connections.

"For fast acting relief, try slowing down." - Lily Tomlin, Comedian and actor

We look forward to seeing you. Come on down, share the joy and meet some great people!

Meeting :) "Spring into Happiness!"

Date :) Thursday, April 14, 2005

Time :) 7:00 - 9:00 P.M.
Place :) Sullivan Independence Town Hall

Address :) 611 Old Post Road, Fairfield, CT 06824

To see a photo taken at one of the meetings of the Happiness Club.

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) Fairfield, CT 06824

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.

"I rate enthusiasm even above professional skill."

- Edward Appleton (1892-1965) Physicist and Nobel Prize laureate

Jane Bradley is President and conducts the meetings.

The next meeting of the Canada Happiness Club will be Thursday, March 17, 2005.

"HAPPINESS STRATEGIES"

Presented by: JANE BRADLEY
LEARN AND SHARE METHODS OF MAINTAINING HAPPINESS IN YOUR LIFE!

It will be held at: The Normandy Resource Centre (The Legion),

111, Church Street,

St. Catharines, Ontario.

The time: 700 - 8:30 PM.

This facility is fully accessible. Admission is A smile and as always is free. Cheers! Jane

Come and celebrate our first birthday on April 14, 2005 (Yes there will be cake!)

Aymee Coget and Dr. Bob Nozik have set the date for the Happiness Club meeting for:

Sunday, April 17th

At the main San Francisco Library

The time:3:00 - 5:00 PM.

Attendance is limited to no more than 15 people, so please call.

Looking for a better alternative but at least we are beginning again.

For more information please contact: Bill Kelly at 804-639-0678,

"A person with low self-esteem tends to overlook the positive things he has done, and instead focuses solely on his failures and mistakes. To help increase someone's self-esteem and confidence, help him become aware of his strengths and resources. Even if someone has many faults and weaknesses, he certainly has shown some positive behavior from time to time. By pointing out how he has succeeded in a past endeavor, or how he was successful in learning at least one thing, or how he manifested strength and courage in a specific situation, you are giving him a powerful resource upon which he can build. You have the ability to raise someone's entire self-image and encourage him to achieve important goals. This is a tremendous act of kindness."
Gateway to Happiness, p.134 by Rabbi Zilig Pliskin

BE HAPPY ZONE
By Lionel Ketchian
February 23, 2005

This past Friday, I spent the day with the author of Gateway to Happiness the best and most comprehensive book on happiness. The author, Rabbi Zelig Pliskin, flew into the United States from Jerusalem where he lives with his family. We met in order to produce two half-hour television shows for The Happiness Show. Rabbi Pliskin is a remarkable human being, in that, not only is he a really happy, joy-filled person, but he has also learned to choose to be this way. I want to share with you some of the ways he has learned to be like this and why he is so happy and furthermore how it can benefit you.

During our conversation I found out that Rabbi Pliskin travels with the five following books: Unlimited Power, by Anthony Robbins, Awaken The Giant Within, also by Anthony Robbins, Think And Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, by Dale Carnegie and How to Win Friends & Influence People, also by Dale Carnegie. Rabbi Pliskin travels with these great thinkers and benefits from them. As he flies in the air by plane these authors take him to a higher inner state. If you think I am kidding about the higher inner state, wait and see, and you will find out something you may have never known before.

Our meeting was highlighted by the fact that both of us have studied NLP. In case you do not know what NLP is I should tell you that Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a behavioral science for improving your personal performance in your life, your business and your relationships. NLP is about being your best more often and learning more about the control you have over yourself. Focusing on the structure of human behavior, NLP helps you understand how and why people behave the way they do, how they take in information, how they deal with it, and how they act on it. It is both a communication process and a set of tools which enables you to influence, communicate and respond so effectively that you can empower every aspect of your life. By using NLP skills, you can rapidly improve the results you get from how you relate with others in your business or personal life. For instance, you can learn to improve your golf game or speak in public. You can learn to put yourself in any state you may need or want to be in, while you are in the present moment.

John Grinder and Richard Bandler created NLP from their study of extremely effective and quick results of psychiatrists like Milton H. Erickson, M.D. and other psychologists and professionals. Anthony Robbins created the term, Neuro-Associative Conditioning (NAC). This is Robbins model for single-session treatments of phobias. This may include problem-solving models to identify clients needs. It could include interruption of an old behavior/emotional pattern through use of Bandler's, Theater technique, and the installation of new behavior through success imagery.

"I realized that we had come across certain tools that worked miraculously in helping us become responsible for every aspect of our lives." - This is a quote by me taken from an article that was published in The New York Times on November 2, 1986. Nineteen years ago I learned how important this technology was for all of us. I taught a course on NLP at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT with Carl Rodia in 1993. I started teaching courses on Happiness including the use of NLP at SHU in 1999. I have also assisted clients in overcoming anxiety, fears, and phobias in less than two hours. Examples are fear of flying, nail biting and other annoying things that can become habits or limitations for you. I incorporate the use of NLP with my coaching clients to enable them to make the changes they wish to see in their lives.

Rabbi Pliskin and I fed off each other in very positive ways. The entire day was like spending time with a soul mate. I say that often when I am in the company of happy people they exude the proper sense of confidence, not only in themselves but for the other person as well. We created joy in one another time and again. In fact after the TV show was filmed in the studio, Rabbi Pliskin, George Ortega and myself went to have a quick bite to eat. We were seated at a cafeteria style eatery and a person named Robert asked to join us at our table. We welcomed Robert and Rabbi Pliskin proceeded to have a "Happiness Club meeting." He told Robert about happiness and what we were all doing and before long Robert was a Happiness Club Member. Rabbi Pliskin is a human joy magnet. He can energize joy in you just by being with you for two minutes.

Rabbi Pliskin calls himself a joy coach. He feels that joy is something you feel on the inside and he can help you find it. He finds it in himself every day. As we walked to the car together and I walked around and opened my car door to let myself in, I noticed Rabbi Pliskin looked up at the sky and proclaimed, "what a beautiful day it is." He was right, but until he mentioned it, I had not noticed. The sky was blue with a few white clouds floating along, with the temperature milder than it has been. He was in the moment. He was grateful for the present moment and that allowed me to experience the same state by being in joy myself. We enjoyed our present together.

Rabbi Pliskin has also given us these words of wisdom in another of his wonderful books titled Begin Again Now. "In this world, you have a choice of running one of two programs. One program is called, "How to make yourself miserable." The other is called, "How to live a joyous life." While there are an unlimited number of possible variations, these two programs best describe the major patterns."

So you have read about a remarkable man. He considers himself to be a teacher. Happiness, Kindness, Serenity, and Harmony with Others, are just a few of the other books Rabbi Pliskin has written. He has written nineteen books and is working on his twentieth one. He shares thoughts with us about living a better quality of life. In every book he shows us that happiness and joy are the essential ingredients to living the good life. Rabbi Pliskin knows about joy and happiness. I discerned it when I read his books, I recognized it when we spoke, and I appreciated it when I could feel the joy and happiness by being with him in person.

Our next Happiness Club meeting will be on Thursday, March 10, from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. The presentation will be from the book "Gateway to Happiness." The meeting will be held at the Sullivan Independence Hall, Fairfield. Admission is free; everyone is welcome. Looking forward to seeing you. Come on down, meet some great people, get seated and get ready to take off with some joy in your life!

Rabbi Zelig Pliskin's has recorded a seminar called:

"Creating The States You Want, More Joy, Less Distress."

Lionel Ketchian is the founder of the Happiness Club,

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

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 2005, Lionel R. Ketchian, all rights reserved.