October 10, 2007
BE HAPPY ZONE
By Lionel Ketchian
I think that warmth and intelligence are an interesting combination of words. I have not heard them mentioned together very often. Together, they offer a different perspective on living life. Of course we all want to do the intelligent thing in life and at the very least, we don't want to look like we are clueless about what to do. Bertrand Russell said, "The main thing needed to make men happy is intelligence."
My definition of happiness is an inner state of well being that enables you to profit from your highest thoughts, intelligence, wisdom, awareness, common sense, emotions, health, and spiritual values. What happens when we look at intelligence with the added aspect of warmth to it? I think that being a warm person is a very important trait to have in life.
I am sure you have dealt with people that seem to be cold and non-caring. Sometimes people are referred to as cold hearted, or are described as being cold and distant. They seem cold and distant to your needs. They may appear to be indifferent to what you are saying or just not connected to you at all. How does that make you feel? It does not make you feel warm and fuzzy, right? No, it doesn't make you feel good.
Daniel Goleman the author of Emotional Intelligence, has said, "Self-awareness--recognizing a feeling as it happens--is the keystone of emotional intelligence. The ability to monitor feelings from moment to moment is crucial to psychological insight and self-understanding. An inability to notice our true feelings leaves us at their mercy. People with a greater certainty about their feelings are better pilots of their lives, having a surer sense of how they really feel about personal decisions from whom to marry to what job to take."
I think that getting along with others is part of our intelligence. It may be our emotional intelligence, but it is all about how smart we are. Why don't we learn to warm up more? Let's make it our business to become a little more warm and friendly. I think it will make you appear smarter and help you become more accepted by other people as well. Let's go practice being warm and intelligent by being warm and friendly, starting now!
Our next meeting is a presentation by Sarah Shapiro, the daughter of the beloved and famous, Norman Cousins. We are privileged to have Sarah as our guest speaker for our next Happiness Club meeting on Thursday, October 11th. Sarah lives in Israel and is visiting our group to meet you and speak about her father. Sarah is an author and her most recent books are Wish I Were Here, and A Gift Passed Along, (Artscroll.)
Norman Cousins knew happiness very well and he knew it at a very deep level. "Our frustrations also arise from the mistaken belief that the complexities of life preclude happiness -- that life is something from which we must flee to be happy." These words of Norman Cousins show the magnitude of his awareness of happiness. Norman also said, "Life is an adventure in forgiveness."
The meeting is on Thursday, October 11, from 7:00 - 9:00 P.M. at the Fairfield Public Library, in the Rotary Room at 1080 Old Post Road, Fairfield. Accommodations will permit only the first 120 people to be admitted. No reservations accepted. Don't miss this valuable talk. Admission is free; everyone is welcome. Meet some great people using happiness in their lives. Come on down, get connected, and step out with joy in your life! Looking forward to seeing you.
As Norman Cousins said: "Illness is not a laughing matter. Perhaps it ought to be. Laughter is a form of internal jogging. It moves your internal organs around. It enhances respiration. It is an igniter of great expectations.”
Lionel Ketchian is the founder of the Happiness Club and can be reached at PrintLRK@aol.com. The website is
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4 comments:
I like your site! I hope the people who read your blog will also visit my site, www.thingstobehappyabout.com! Best wishes to you!
So many people seem to think that happiness is a selfish pursuit. That somehow having more money, more fame, more stuff will lead to happiness. The truth is that happiness cannot be pursued directly because it is a byproduct and a state of mind.
Happiness comes to those who give of themselves not those who take for themselves. Are you interested in creating value for others or are you driven by selfish motives. One leads to happiness the other to disappointment.
As a brand new reader I have a question that will be easy to answer. Has there ever been developed a questionnaire to be answered by those wishing to join a Happiness Club? The main reason I ask is that it seems people getting together for happiness meetings would not want to have folks around them who have negative
personalities. If someone takes a negative view of everything that would tend to affect the positive
view of life sought by the majority.
Dear New Reader,
No, we never had a questioner for anyone joining our Happiness Clubs. Anyone can come to a meeting, or receive our free Happiness Newsletter or participate in many other programs we have. We do not even take names or money from people attending a meeting of signing up for anything.
The reason it would be fine for an unhappy person to come to a meeting and express him or herself is that it would not brother anyone in the meeting for them to do so. If anything they would re-enforce our decision to be happy by their very words of unhappiness. Unhappy people have attended our meetings but they did not stay unhappy for very long. We invite anyone to attend our many different meetings held in various places.
I think people should be happy or unhappy depending on what they choose to be. Our only mission is to put the positive advantages and the many ways people can become happy out there for everyone. Once people understand and value happiness they will begin to benefit from the happiness experience. Many people cannot choose happiness because no one has ever explained how to be happy to them.
Although everyone has a choice to be happy. Not everyone can choose to be happy because you can only choose the thing you are aware of. Learn about happiness, become aware of it and then see what you want to choose to live your whole life with.
Sharing Love, Peace and Happiness with you,
Lionel Ketchian
Founder of the Happiness Club
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