Happ-E-Newsletter for April 1, 2007

Welcome My Dear Friend!

Some beautiful words from Mother Teresa, "We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do."

Join Dr. Robert and Barbara Muller on April 2nd, at your home, on your phone, on the new VIRTUAL HAPPINESS CLUB! Dr. Muller is a former United Nations Assistant Secretary General. Robert's book: Most of All They Taught Me Happiness is among me top 20 happiness books of all time on my web site. Details below in this newsletter.

"This is an e-club of people who are interested in happiness and everything about happiness. Being happy
is great for our health but sometimes we're so caught up with our daily lives that we forget to try to be the
happiest we can be. Sometimes we might need some help to get happy.

That's where Club Happiness can help. Join us as we share and discuss anything about a great topic -
happiness :-) This is going to be a great online happiness community for people to enjoy between meetings, or for those that don't have any happiness groups where they live.

Club Happiness will be run by our good friend David Ambrose. David lives in Calgary, Canada, after spending most of his life in South Africa. David knows a lot about happiness and is the author of the powerful book: Your Life Manual: Practical Steps To Genuine Happiness. David is even going to be teaching a happiness course at Mount Royal College in Canada, beginning May 2007. So you can imagine that I'm really happy to have him on board. We're very lucky indeed!

Our last Happiness Club meeting on March 22, had a presentation called: "Understanding Happiness," by Dr. Leonard J. Waks. Len and I discussed happiness and it's relationship to philosophy and psychology and how that relates to you. Dr. Waks has doctorates in both philosophy and psychology, and taught full time at Purdue, Stanford, Penn State and Temple universities from 1966 until his retirement in 2005. Read the following article because it is a good review of many of the important points expressed during that meeting.

A MANUAL FOR LIVING

I would like to introduce you to an old friend of mine. You might call him the great grandfather of happiness. His name is Epictetus, a Greek Stoic philosopher who lived from 55 - 135 AD spending most of his life in Rome. Epictetus was a slave that became crippled but eventually gained his freedom. Epictetus credits Socrates for his thinking. He showed us the way to happiness, fulfillment, and tranquility by spending his life on that path. Epictetus main work was called The Discourses. His most profound truth was: "We are disturbed not by events, but by the views which we take of them."

The title of this article is from the book: A Manual For Living by Sharon Lebell. Sharon's book is a new interpretation of Epictetus work. Sharon has done an excellent job of expressing these age-old concepts.

Let me share some of these thoughts with you. "Know what you can control and what you can't. Happiness and freedom begin with a clear understanding of one principle: some things are within our control, and some things are not. It is only after you have faced up to this fundamental rule and learned to distinguish between what you can and can't control that inner tranquility and outer effectiveness becomes possible."

Notice the simple yet profound truths that are contained in these quotes by Epictetus. "We cannot choose our external circumstances, but we can always choose how we respond to them." And this: "Authentic happiness is always independent of external conditions. Vigilantly practice indifference to external conditions. Your happiness can only be found within." Now there is a profound truth for you and it was spoken 2,000 years ago and it is still true today. Human nature has not changed much in all these years.

Here are some more quotes to think about: "Events themselves are impersonal and indifferent. When considering the future, remember that all situations unfold as they do regardless of how we feel about them. Our hopes and fears sway us, not events themselves." Consider this one: "Be discriminating about what images and ideas you permit into your mind. If you don't choose what thoughts and images you expose yourself to, someone else will, and their motives may not be the highest."

I will leave you with one more great thought of our friend Epictetus. At this point, I feel that you have made a friend of him as well. He said: "Most people tend to delude themselves into thinking that freedom comes from doing what feels good or what fosters comfort and ease. The truth is that people who subordinate reason to their feelings or the moment are actually slaves of their desires and aversions."

Our old friend Epictetus was a slave, a cripple, a teacher and a philosopher. One of his students was Marcus Aurlius Antoninus who became the Emperor of Rome. Marcus Aurlius was also famous for writing the wonderful book called: Meditations. So, that is the story of the slave who became a teacher to the ruler of the Roman Empire. I encourage you to read Epictetus' words because you will learn to rule your own empire with a great deal of wisdom and happiness. Epictetus' objective was for you to become master of your own life. I absolutely agree with him!

Epictetus has made his way into today's modern psychology because psychologist Albert Ellis, Ph.D. the founder of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, credits Epictetus with providing a foundation for his system of psychotherapy. His book How to Make Yourself Happy and Remarkably Less Disturbable is on my top 20 happiness books. Dr. Albert Ellis has written over 90 other books. Dr. Ellis shows you how to overcome destructive beliefs, feelings and behaviors using Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy. Dr. Ellis is 95 years young and is still practicing psychology today.

BE HAPPY ZONE by Lionel Ketchian. Published in the Fairfield Citizen-News on March 21, 2007

Life is complicated, happiness is simple! LIVE RICHLY...PRACTICE HAPPINESS!
Everything we do in life is for the purpose of obtaining happiness! Happiness Empowerment to You! Reminding you to make the "Happiness Decision." Think Smart, Look Smart, Be Smart...Be Happy! Sharing Love, Peace and Happiness with you, Lionel Ketchian

Happ-E-Quote :) "Life is what we make it. Always has been, always will be." - Grandma Moses

Happ-E-Mail :) How exciting! The happiness teleseminar coming up in April 2nd with Dr. Robert and Barbara Muller. I certainly plan to phone in. Also, I'm sure you caught the article on the Teen Happy Club in the Stamford Times Online. I have it listed in the AATH (Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor) E-zine (aath.org). People in this group are becoming excited about seeing and checking out happiness references in addition to the ones on laughter and humor; they really are closely linked.

Our Diablo Valley Happiness Club (DVHC), is still going strong after a year of meetings. We've completed discussion of all 12 Happiness Keys, from my book, Happy 4 Life: Here’s How to Do It. At our next meeting, Thursday, April 12, 10:30 - Noon, we will discuss Karma and why bad things sometimes happen to good people and good things sometimes happen to bad people. Happiness is expanding and growing at an ever increasing speed. All for now, my friend, be happy (like you wouldn't) Dr. Bob Nozik

Happ-E-Quote :) "Adversity is another way to measure the greatness of individuals. I never had a crisis that didn't make me stronger." - Lou Holtz

Happ-E-Quote :) "Welcome every morning with a smile. Look on the new day as another special gift from your Creator. Another golden opportunity to complete what you were unable to finish yesterday." - Og Mandino

Happ-E-Quote :) "Learn as if you were going to live forever. Live as if you were going to die tomorrow." - Mahatma Gandhi

Happ-E-Mail :) I saw an advertisement in today's newspaper for a happiness convention here in Sydney, Australia in June. The Dalai Lama is going to be there as well as other famous people.

Happ-E-Quote :) "People can live through hardship, but from hard feelings they perish." - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Happ-E-Mail :) Hey Dad ~ This is an article from my co-worker, Steve. Enjoy! Love ~ Kim :)

Happ-E-Quote :) "Wisdom is the quality that keeps you from getting into situations where you need it." - Doug Larson

Happ-E-Poem :) This poem sent us from our friend David Lazar.

Friends
Who share the way
Who also accept life
Who also find awareness
And move with spirit and joy
And dance with the flow of life
Thank you friends for your presence.

Happ-E-Quote :) "When we learn to give thanks, we are learning to concentrate not on the bad things, but on the good things in our lives." - Amy Vanderbilt

Happ-E-News :) Some excellent articles on happiness!

MENTORS HAPPINESS CLUB :) Meeting: Monday, April 2nd, from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM at the Fairfield Public Library in the conference room. This meeting is for the Happiness Club facilitators in CT.

FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT HAPPINESS CLUB :)

Our next Happiness Club meeting will include a presentation called: "Joy and Defying Gravity," by Prill Boyle. Prill is a Fairfield author of the book by the same name and will be discussing a collection of short stories featuring people who have found a new career after mid-life.

WESTPORT, CONNECTICUT SMILING SINGLE SENIORS HAPPINESS CLUB :)
Our next Happiness Club meeting will be a presentation by C.J. Golden the author of the book:

The Tao Of The Defiant Woman. C.J. wrote this book to celebrate the transitions that we all (men, too) face as we go through our lives. This book was done as a self-help project to help her accept this thing we call aging - and in the process changed C.J.'s attitude towards life (and her gray hair and wrinkles).

Date :) Thursday, April 26, 2007
Time :) 6:30- 8:00 P.M.
Place :) The Westport Senior Center

Address :) 21 Imperial Ave. Westport CT 06880.

Admission is free and the meetings are for people single and over 50 years old. Meet some wonderful people using happiness in their lives. Stay happy and healthy - get well connected. Stacy Enyeart is the group facilitator. Future meetings will be held on Thursday, May 31, Thursday, June 28, Thursday, July 26, 2007.

NORWALK, CONNECTICUT SENIORS HAPPINESS CLUB :)

For now, we have one scheduled Happiness Club meeting here. The book: The secret will be discussed.

Date :) Thursday, April 26, 2007
Time :) 10:30 AM - 12:00 P.M.
Place :) The Norwalk Senior Center

Address :) 11 Allen Road, Norwalk, CT 06851.

Kelsang Shenden, a Buddhist Nun is the group facilitator. No future meetings are scheduled at this time. Admission is free.

MADISON CONNECTICUT HAPPINESS CLUB :)
The next Happiness Club meeting is:

STAMFORD,CONNECTICUT TEEN HAPPY CLUB :)
Open to all high school students. Meetings are held twice a month on Saturdays from 11:00 - 12:30 P.M. At the Daniel and Grace Tully & Family Health Center, 32 Strawberry Hill Court, Stamford, Connecticut 06902.

WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA HAPPINESS CLUB :)
Our next meeting will have a 10 minute presentation entitled: "Taking Charge of Our Emotions" followed by discussion and socializing. We look forward to seeing you there! It could change your life. We now have nearly thirty members signed up for the Wilmington Happiness Club! I encourage you all to make your vision of this group a reality. Be proactive! Attend meetings and share your thoughts, ideas, and creativity.

Date :) Friday, April 20, 2007

Time :) 7:00 - 9:00 P.M.
Place :) The Happiness Institute

Address :) 6336 Oleander Drive Suite #4, Wilmington NC 28403.
Coffee, tea, water, and light snacks are provided.

Happ-E-Quote :) "Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead

Happiness is an inner state of well being. A state that enables you to profit from your highest thoughts, intelligence, wisdom, awareness, common sense, emotions, health, and spiritual values.
Happiness is one of the most important things in your life. Don't give away your power by being unhappy! Practice "Premeditated Happiness," because happiness is an issue of power. We give our power to others for many reasons. We mistakenly think that doing this will make us happy. The truth is that we have given others power over ourselves. We can now consciously reclaim our power and experience happiness. Happiness does wonders for your soul. Now is the time to learn to use happiness for dealing with challenges and difficult people so you can empower your life. 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!

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"Unhappiness is a form of suffering." Eckhart Tolle. "Do or do not. There is no try." Yoda

If you're not happy by now, it's time to have a talk with yourself.