THANKSGIVING HAPPINESS!
Have you ever been hungry and not have enough money to buy food? Did you ever skip a meal so another family member could eat? Unfortunately, this is happening right here in Connecticut. You could help make a positive difference. For the last 15 years a number of volunteers have been feeding children in need. Lydia M. Child said, "An effort made for the happiness of others lifts us above ourselves."
You're invited to join me for the 2008 Thanksgiving Basket Brigade! It will be held on Saturday, November 22nd. We'll have Starbucks Coffee and danish waiting for you! We could use your help that day and we need your donations to help our growing fundraising need. I tell people that if they come, they will thank me for telling them about this wonderful gathering. Every year, my participation makes me really feel like the holidays are here.
Here's a letter from a yearly volunteer: "The day of the Basket Brigade is one of the best of the year for me. While it makes me sad to think that people need that kind of help, because certainly no one should have to worry about where their next meal is coming from, it makes me happy, too. To reach out to people and to know that everyone who participates in the Basket Brigade reaches out, too. That is what life is all about, isn't it, helping each other? All of you folks responsible for starting and organizing it are fantastic. I'm in awe of how hard you all work to put it all together and to make sure there is food to put in those baskets. It's truly been a blessing for my family, who also helps and as my niece and nephew get older, they'll help out, too. Sending much love and appreciation that I feel for all of you and I look forward to seeing you on November 22nd. Many thanks!" - Rachel
Please meet us at 9:30 AM at our Thanksgiving Basket Brigade location, which is Champ Direct Printing & Mailing, 75 Cascade Boulevard, Milford, CT 06460. On the weekend before Thanksgiving, volunteers have been putting together and delivering baskets with all the fixings’ to those in need in the greater New Haven/ Bridgeport area. We work with several agencies to find families in need of assistance. We work with the CCCC (Coordinating Council for Children in Crisis), Yale Child Study Center, Cornerstone, Bella Vista, and The Connecticut Department of Social Services.
All donations are tax deductible Coordinating Council for Children in Crisis Help make a positive difference this year! Make a donation to the Thanksgiving Basket Brigade. Go to: www.ccccnh.org/donate.php hit the Basket Brigade button!
Or you can mail a check to: CCCC (The Coordinating Council for Children in Crisis), 131 Dwight Street, New Haven, CT 06511. Please indicate "Basket Brigade" in the memo section. The CCCC is a non profit organization that has been providing client names and assists with our efforts every year. Upon completion of the Basket Brigade, CCCC will mail a thank you letter (an employer may want to hang this up) which with your canceled check will be your receipt. Your name will be included in their annual report.
The CCCC is a non profit organization that has been providing client names and assists with our efforts every year. A donation of $300 feeds 10 families, $150 feeds 5 families, and $30 feeds 1 family. Any donation will help tremendously! One hundred percent of your donations, every single penny, will go to purchasing food and toys. The entire overhead is donated. You will receive a thank you letter and your name will be included in the CCCC annual report.
Check this out: www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgKYXVhGpHI
I trust you will get excited about this project and join me in talking to everyone about it, coworkers, family, friends and neighbors. Invite them to contribute and come help us deliver! When we began in 1993, we provided 100 families with food. We were excited the year we reached a new plateau of feeding 185 families. Last year we fed 350 families and this year we are going to feed 450 families. That's over 8 tons of food and personal items.
I thank Dr. John Sottery, who organized the first Basket Brigade in 1993 and Victor Frazao our facilitator. Our sincere appreciation to Paul Featherston, the owner of Champ Direct, who has donated his facilities to this wonderful cause. His wife Kathleen and their family will also be there to help out. I also want to thank Adams Supermarket at 1301 New Haven Avenue in Milford, CT. for helping us reduce our food costs for many years. All these wonderful people really make the sprit of the holidays real.
A young man said to me, "Last year was the first time I volunteered to help. It made me realize that I could feel good about giving. I always enjoyed receiving, but giving was also good, yet slightly different. It made me feel like I was contributing. It energized me. It made me feel good about myself. I never realized that giving was like a gift as well. Giving is receiving. It was not only a gift I gave others but also a gift I gave myself." A. Neilen, so correctly stated, "If you have not often felt the joy of doing a kind act, you have neglected much, and most of all yourself."
If you have questions please feel free to contact: Victor Frazao, phone: (203) 258-3888 e-mail: Victor@frazao.com, Lionel Ketchian, phone: (203) 258-7777 e-mail: PrintLRK@aol.com.
BE HAPPY ZONE by Lionel Ketchian. Published in the Fairfield Citizen-News on November 5, 2008.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Free Talk: The Keys to Happiness by Dr. Cynthia Barnett
Free Talk: The Keys to Happiness by Dr. Cynthia Barnett. No sign up necessary
Date & Time: Saturday January 10, 2009, 10:00 AM - 12:00 Noon.
Place: At the Fairfield Public Library, Rotary room, 1080 Old Post Road, Fairfield, CT 06824
This workshop offers a comprehensive guide to understanding what happiness is, and isn't, and what can be done to bring us all closer to the happy life we envision for ourselves. You will learn happiness enhancing strategies that you can use to achieve a happier life. These include exercises in practicing optimism when imagining the future, instruction in how best to savor life's pleasures in the here and now. You will develop the skills and strategies to be happier now in an interactive workshop format supported by practical examples and exercises. Based on the How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky
Dr. Cynthia Barnett is a graduate of Marty Selignman's Authentic Happiness Coaching Program, Chris Peterson's Positive Psychology class, and most recently Sonya Lyubomsky's class the How, Why and What of Happiness. Dr. Barnett phone: 203-855-9714, www.empowermentretreat.com, www.refiredontretire.com, www.primetimemakeover.com
Date & Time: Saturday January 10, 2009, 10:00 AM - 12:00 Noon.
Place: At the Fairfield Public Library, Rotary room, 1080 Old Post Road, Fairfield, CT 06824
This workshop offers a comprehensive guide to understanding what happiness is, and isn't, and what can be done to bring us all closer to the happy life we envision for ourselves. You will learn happiness enhancing strategies that you can use to achieve a happier life. These include exercises in practicing optimism when imagining the future, instruction in how best to savor life's pleasures in the here and now. You will develop the skills and strategies to be happier now in an interactive workshop format supported by practical examples and exercises. Based on the How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky
Dr. Cynthia Barnett is a graduate of Marty Selignman's Authentic Happiness Coaching Program, Chris Peterson's Positive Psychology class, and most recently Sonya Lyubomsky's class the How, Why and What of Happiness. Dr. Barnett phone: 203-855-9714, www.empowermentretreat.com, www.refiredontretire.com, www.primetimemakeover.com
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
'GIVING THANKS'
Anne Fasanella will be doing a special free event by phone, 'GIVING THANKS' for Friendly Connections, of Greenwich, CT.on Friday NOVEMBER 7, 2008 at 11 AM from Westport, CT. She will discuss how we can enrich our lives, regardless of our circumstances, by learning to recognize and appreciate all that we have. Anne is the host of Friendly Connections popular Happiness Club, the first THURSDAY of every month doing a teleseminar with Fairfield County including the towns of Greenwich, Stamford, Darien, New Canaan, and Norwalk. She is also the facilitator for Annie's SING-A-LONG that enables a group of older adults to sing with a group of participants over the PHONE, twice a month over the phone. Call Friendly Connections for a free copy of Annie's Sing-A-LONG booklet for the words to more than 30 OLD classic songs to be sent to you. The dates for her NOVEMBER's Sing-A-LONG will be TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2008, VETERAN's DAY, at 2pm, and MONDAY NOVEMBER 24, 2008 at 3pm. All programs are free but you must call Friendly Connections, in Greenwich, CT to sign up. When it's time for the group to begin, they will connect you via telephone. All that is needed is a regular phone, or (cell phone). Best of all, there is no charge. Callers participate in interactive telephone groups and classes from the comfort of their own homes.
For more information or to participate, call : Darien (203) 656-1128, Greenwich (203) 661-8841, New Canaan (203) 996-2912 or Stamford, (203) 323-3792 Anne Fasanella, Annie's Creative Arts of Westport
For more information or to participate, call : Darien (203) 656-1128, Greenwich (203) 661-8841, New Canaan (203) 996-2912 or Stamford, (203) 323-3792 Anne Fasanella, Annie's Creative Arts of Westport
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Understand Why
Understand Why
by Bernie Siegel, MD Author of Buddy's Candle
Many years ago my great grandfather told me of the persecution he experienced in Russia which led him to come to this country. He said the Cossacks would pursue him at night, when he was out teaching, and slash him with their sabers. One night he was on the hill above his village with his rabbi, the Baal Shem Tov. As they looked down they could see the Cossacks riding down and killing their Jewish brethren. They might have felt the same had they seen their loved ones being taken away to become slaves in a foreign land.
My great grandfather heard the rabbi say, “I wish I were God.”
He asked, “Do you want to be God so you can change the bad into the good?”
“No, I wouldn’t change anything. I want to be God so I can understand.”
Remember our present problems are not new to mankind. Ninety percent of the natives of South America died when the explorers brought infectious diseases to their continent that they had no immunity to and forty per cent of Europeans died during plagues of the past. Man made wars and holocausts have taken millions of lives and with today’s destructive weapons we are more of a threat to each other than are infectious diseases, which we can learn to resist. The question is not, will there be difficulties and threats to our existence, but how will we deal with them and what can we learn from them. How can they become blessings to society, as a life threatening disease is to an individual, by teaching us about the meaning of our life and existence?
When I was a young boy several of my friends became seriously ill and one was hit by a car while bicycling to my house. When they all died I asked my father, “Why did God make a world where terrible things happen? Why didn’t God make a world free of diseases, accidents and problems?”
He said, “To learn lessons.” I didn’t like that answer and asked my rabbi, teacher and others. They said things like, “God knows, Why not?, Who knows?, That’s life, To bring you closer to God.” Some were honest enough to just say, “I don’t know.” This didn’t leave me feeling satisfied or enlightened. When I told my mother what they said she answered, “Nature contains the wisdom you seek. Perhaps a walk in the woods would help you to find out why. Go and ask the old lady on the hill that some call a witch. She is wise in the ways of the world.”
As I walked up the hill I saw a holly tree had fallen onto the path. As I tried to pull it aside the sharp leaves cut my hands. So I put on gloves and was able to move it and clear the path. A little further along the path I heard a noise in the bushes and saw a duck caught in the plastic from a six pack. I went over and freed the duck and watched him fly off. None of this seemed enlightening.
Further up the hill I saw five boys lying in a tangled heap in the snow. I asked them if they were playing a game and warned them the cold weather could lead to frostbite if they didn’t move. They said they were not playing but were so tangled they didn’t know which part belonged to whom and were afraid they’d break something if they moved. I removed one of the boy’s shoes, took a stick and jabbed it into his foot.
He yelled, “Ow.”
I said, “That’s your foot now move it.” I continued to jab until all the boys were separated but still no enlightenment.
“As I reached the top of the hill I saw, in front of the old woman’s cabin, a deer sprawled on the ice of a frozen pond . She kept slipping and sliding and couldn’t stand up. I went out, calmed her and then helped her off the ice by holding her up and guiding her to the shore. I expected her to run away but instead of running away she and several other deer followed me to the house. I wasn’t sure why they were following me so I ran towards the house. When I reached the porch and felt safe I turned and the deer and I looked into each others eyes before I went into the house.
I told the woman why I had come and she said, “I have been watching you walk up the hill and I think you have your answer.”
“What answer?”
“Many things happened on your walk to teach you the lessons you needed to learn. One is that emotional and physical pain are necessary or we cannot protect ourselves and our bodies. Think of why you put on gloves and how you helped those boys. Pain helps us to know and define ourselves and respond to our needs and the needs of our loved ones. You did what made sense. You helped those in front of you by doing what they needed when they needed it.
“The deer followed you to thank you, their eyes said it all, for being compassionate in their time of trouble. What you have learned is that we are here to continue God’s work. If God had made a perfect world it would be a magic trick, not creation, with no meaning or place for us to learn and create. Creation is work. We are the ones who will have to create the world you are hoping for. A world where evil is to not respond to the person with the disease or pain whether it be emotional or physical. God has given us work to do. We will still grieve when we experience losses but we will also use our pain to help us know ourselves and respond to the needs of others. That is our work as our Creator intended it to be. God wants us to know that life is a series of beginnings not endings. Just as graduations are not terminations but commencements.
“Let me tell you about people who have been my teachers. The first, a teenager sexually abused by his parents who now has AIDS. When he was about to commit suicide by jumping in front of a subway train I asked him why he didn’t kill his parents instead. He said, “I never wanted to be like them.” Love has sustained him and he is alive today.”
“Another young man with a life threatening illness said, “What is evil is not the disease. Many great creative works will come from individual suffering but what is evil is to not respond with compassion to the person with the illness.”
“An example are parents I know who because they had a young child die are improving the lives of other children and raising funds to find a cure for the disease which took their child so other children will not have to die as their child did.
“How do we turn our afflictions into blessings? How do we use them to help us complete ourselves and our work and understand the place for love, tolerance and kindness? How can we learn as Jacob did from his experience of wrestling with an angel? Justice and mercy must both be a part of how we treat those who terrorize because when you understand you can forgive and when you can forgive you do not hate and when you do not hate you are capable of loving and love is the most powerful weapon known to man. It is not an accident that we say, kill with kindness, love thine enemies and torment with tenderness.
“As Golda Meir said, "The only way to eliminate war is to love our children more than we hate our enemies." When we raise a generation of children with compassion and when parents let their children know they are loved, teachers truly educate them and not just inform them and the clergy let them know they are children of God we will have a planet made up of the family of man where our differences are used for recognition and not persecution. Words and experts cannot be our Lord. Abraham did not bargain or refuse his Lord’s request and Jesus, who was capable of performing miracles, did not jump down off the cross to impress everyone with who he was. Our Creator must be who we have faith in so we can live as Abraham and Jesus did fearing only separation from their Lord. Think of what Noah experienced too. He didn't argue with God over what was about to happen. I think he knew that living was more difficult than dying and that we are all here to learn what it is to hurt and be hurt and only then will we be perfect enough to love and be loved.
In closing let me say that as a surgeon I know something you may not; that we are all the same color inside and members of one family. To paraphrase Rabbi Carlebach, let us hope that some day all the Cains, will realize what they have done, and ask for forgiveness of the Abels they have killed. In that moment we will all rise and become one family accepting that we are here to love and be loved. Until that moment may you accept and learn from your mortality what is truly important in the time of your life. Rather than from further disasters.
Author Bio As a surgeon who has worked with people with life threatening illnesses for many years, Dr. Bernie Siegel shares in this story his belief that there is a light in each of us by God's/Dog's design. And, that we are all a part of the candle parade of light. As long as we remember to love, our candles will glow with life as will Buddy's candle across the Rainbow Bridge. This is a story both children and adults will find healing, uplifting, and inspiring.
www.berniesiegelmd.com
by Bernie Siegel, MD Author of Buddy's Candle
Many years ago my great grandfather told me of the persecution he experienced in Russia which led him to come to this country. He said the Cossacks would pursue him at night, when he was out teaching, and slash him with their sabers. One night he was on the hill above his village with his rabbi, the Baal Shem Tov. As they looked down they could see the Cossacks riding down and killing their Jewish brethren. They might have felt the same had they seen their loved ones being taken away to become slaves in a foreign land.
My great grandfather heard the rabbi say, “I wish I were God.”
He asked, “Do you want to be God so you can change the bad into the good?”
“No, I wouldn’t change anything. I want to be God so I can understand.”
Remember our present problems are not new to mankind. Ninety percent of the natives of South America died when the explorers brought infectious diseases to their continent that they had no immunity to and forty per cent of Europeans died during plagues of the past. Man made wars and holocausts have taken millions of lives and with today’s destructive weapons we are more of a threat to each other than are infectious diseases, which we can learn to resist. The question is not, will there be difficulties and threats to our existence, but how will we deal with them and what can we learn from them. How can they become blessings to society, as a life threatening disease is to an individual, by teaching us about the meaning of our life and existence?
When I was a young boy several of my friends became seriously ill and one was hit by a car while bicycling to my house. When they all died I asked my father, “Why did God make a world where terrible things happen? Why didn’t God make a world free of diseases, accidents and problems?”
He said, “To learn lessons.” I didn’t like that answer and asked my rabbi, teacher and others. They said things like, “God knows, Why not?, Who knows?, That’s life, To bring you closer to God.” Some were honest enough to just say, “I don’t know.” This didn’t leave me feeling satisfied or enlightened. When I told my mother what they said she answered, “Nature contains the wisdom you seek. Perhaps a walk in the woods would help you to find out why. Go and ask the old lady on the hill that some call a witch. She is wise in the ways of the world.”
As I walked up the hill I saw a holly tree had fallen onto the path. As I tried to pull it aside the sharp leaves cut my hands. So I put on gloves and was able to move it and clear the path. A little further along the path I heard a noise in the bushes and saw a duck caught in the plastic from a six pack. I went over and freed the duck and watched him fly off. None of this seemed enlightening.
Further up the hill I saw five boys lying in a tangled heap in the snow. I asked them if they were playing a game and warned them the cold weather could lead to frostbite if they didn’t move. They said they were not playing but were so tangled they didn’t know which part belonged to whom and were afraid they’d break something if they moved. I removed one of the boy’s shoes, took a stick and jabbed it into his foot.
He yelled, “Ow.”
I said, “That’s your foot now move it.” I continued to jab until all the boys were separated but still no enlightenment.
“As I reached the top of the hill I saw, in front of the old woman’s cabin, a deer sprawled on the ice of a frozen pond . She kept slipping and sliding and couldn’t stand up. I went out, calmed her and then helped her off the ice by holding her up and guiding her to the shore. I expected her to run away but instead of running away she and several other deer followed me to the house. I wasn’t sure why they were following me so I ran towards the house. When I reached the porch and felt safe I turned and the deer and I looked into each others eyes before I went into the house.
I told the woman why I had come and she said, “I have been watching you walk up the hill and I think you have your answer.”
“What answer?”
“Many things happened on your walk to teach you the lessons you needed to learn. One is that emotional and physical pain are necessary or we cannot protect ourselves and our bodies. Think of why you put on gloves and how you helped those boys. Pain helps us to know and define ourselves and respond to our needs and the needs of our loved ones. You did what made sense. You helped those in front of you by doing what they needed when they needed it.
“The deer followed you to thank you, their eyes said it all, for being compassionate in their time of trouble. What you have learned is that we are here to continue God’s work. If God had made a perfect world it would be a magic trick, not creation, with no meaning or place for us to learn and create. Creation is work. We are the ones who will have to create the world you are hoping for. A world where evil is to not respond to the person with the disease or pain whether it be emotional or physical. God has given us work to do. We will still grieve when we experience losses but we will also use our pain to help us know ourselves and respond to the needs of others. That is our work as our Creator intended it to be. God wants us to know that life is a series of beginnings not endings. Just as graduations are not terminations but commencements.
“Let me tell you about people who have been my teachers. The first, a teenager sexually abused by his parents who now has AIDS. When he was about to commit suicide by jumping in front of a subway train I asked him why he didn’t kill his parents instead. He said, “I never wanted to be like them.” Love has sustained him and he is alive today.”
“Another young man with a life threatening illness said, “What is evil is not the disease. Many great creative works will come from individual suffering but what is evil is to not respond with compassion to the person with the illness.”
“An example are parents I know who because they had a young child die are improving the lives of other children and raising funds to find a cure for the disease which took their child so other children will not have to die as their child did.
“How do we turn our afflictions into blessings? How do we use them to help us complete ourselves and our work and understand the place for love, tolerance and kindness? How can we learn as Jacob did from his experience of wrestling with an angel? Justice and mercy must both be a part of how we treat those who terrorize because when you understand you can forgive and when you can forgive you do not hate and when you do not hate you are capable of loving and love is the most powerful weapon known to man. It is not an accident that we say, kill with kindness, love thine enemies and torment with tenderness.
“As Golda Meir said, "The only way to eliminate war is to love our children more than we hate our enemies." When we raise a generation of children with compassion and when parents let their children know they are loved, teachers truly educate them and not just inform them and the clergy let them know they are children of God we will have a planet made up of the family of man where our differences are used for recognition and not persecution. Words and experts cannot be our Lord. Abraham did not bargain or refuse his Lord’s request and Jesus, who was capable of performing miracles, did not jump down off the cross to impress everyone with who he was. Our Creator must be who we have faith in so we can live as Abraham and Jesus did fearing only separation from their Lord. Think of what Noah experienced too. He didn't argue with God over what was about to happen. I think he knew that living was more difficult than dying and that we are all here to learn what it is to hurt and be hurt and only then will we be perfect enough to love and be loved.
In closing let me say that as a surgeon I know something you may not; that we are all the same color inside and members of one family. To paraphrase Rabbi Carlebach, let us hope that some day all the Cains, will realize what they have done, and ask for forgiveness of the Abels they have killed. In that moment we will all rise and become one family accepting that we are here to love and be loved. Until that moment may you accept and learn from your mortality what is truly important in the time of your life. Rather than from further disasters.
Author Bio As a surgeon who has worked with people with life threatening illnesses for many years, Dr. Bernie Siegel shares in this story his belief that there is a light in each of us by God's/Dog's design. And, that we are all a part of the candle parade of light. As long as we remember to love, our candles will glow with life as will Buddy's candle across the Rainbow Bridge. This is a story both children and adults will find healing, uplifting, and inspiring.
www.berniesiegelmd.com
Buddy's Candle
Our friend Dr. Bernie S. Siegel, has just published another wonderful book called: Buddy's Candle. It is illustrated by Mari Gayatri Stein. I love this quote from Bernie's book: "Candles remind me to live every moment to the fullest, to burn up and not out, and to always let our inner light shine so we can be beacons for others." I love Bernie's books and have Love, Medicine and Miracles on my top 20 Happiness Books List. Once again Bernie has done his magic, to create this book so we can deal with grief and learn to accept death so we can heal our hearts and minds. This is a book for anyone who has ever lost a loved one. This also includes your dog or your cat or any pet that you have made a part of your family. Website: www.berniesiegelmd.com
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
The Guru Next Door
The Guru Next Door: A Teacher's Legacy by Wendy Dolber is a wonderful book that I recommend you read and learn from. Wendy had the good fortune of being next door neighbors with Bruce DiMarsico the creator of the Option Method. I love Bruce's work and have his book on my 20 best Happiness Book list on my website. This is a very rare opportunity to learn from one of the greatest happiness minds that ever lived. Bruce was ahead of his time and made things profoundly simple. Wendy gives us the gift of understanding Bruce's work from her great vantage point. This book has received endorsements (among many others) from Dr. Joe Vitale and Michael Neil, two really great authors of the happiness movement. In the beautiful words of Bruce DiMarsico, "There is no more loving vocation than to question unhappiness." Wendy has been invloved with Bruce's work since early in 1970. Bruce passed away in 1995. Deborah Mendel is the widow of Bruce DiMarsico and she recommends this book as well. The rest of us were not fortunate enough to live next to a truly happy teacher, so this book will bring you the happiness wisdom you need. With love, peace and happiness, Lionel Ketchian
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Happiness in Dubai
In pursuit of happiness
DAVID LIGHT (Staff Reporter)
26 July 2008
Dubai-based Dina Sabnani believes in spreading joy, and has founded the Happiness Club in the UAE to help people find that elusive streak of sunshine in their lives
COULDN’TWE all do with a little bit more happiness in our lives? While life in the UAE is certainly not arduous, our fast paced lifestyles can leave us feeling a bit empty. Alright so you have the car, the villa, the job that makes you a small (or large) fortune, but can we ever say we have enough laughter, friends and fun? The job that does make you a tidy sum often gets in the way of the finer things in life. Nine to five is out and in the Emirates work takes precedence.
How can one find the time to specifically dedicate to nourishing the soul, feeling good about life and enjoying oneself?
It is therefore with some considerable excitement that City Times can announce the inaugural meeting of The Happiness Club today at 3pm to 5pm at Zen restaurant, gate six of Zabeel Park Dubai. A phenomenon that originated in America and has swept across the world, Happiness Clubs are all the rage from Los Angeles to Lausanne.
Founded by American Lionel Ketchian, the first Happiness Club met in January 2000 in Fairfield, Connecticut as a result of a Happiness Class Lionel gave at a University in the state.
After the class graduated they wanted to keep meeting to continue to practice the new found happiness skills they learned hence the establishment of the Happiness Club. The Fairfield Club has been meeting every month since that date. They have continued to spread the word across the USA and the world via the internet, and Dubai is the 38th Happiness Club. At the moment there are five Happiness Clubs in countries outside the United States in: Australia, Canada, Denmark, Jerusalem, New Zealand and Switzerland. Dubai is set to become the sixth.
The UAE gets a Happiness Club
The woman responsible for bringing the idea to the UAE and recently appointed Happiness Club Ambassador for the Emirates by the founder, the effervescent Dina Sabnani, had a chat with City Times giving us the low-down on what goes on in the meetings and what she hopes to achieve with the club.
Dina has been living in Dubai for the last three years. “People here have such busy lives that they often forget that beyond the cars and villas that work affords you there needs to be happiness otherwise what’s the point? I’m an extremely happy person and I see others here that are not so I thought I would start up this group that meets every month.”
“It really all began with Facebook. With Facebook being as social as it is I have been networking with some interesting people across the world and one of those was a popular law of attraction coach in the US.
Through him I got an invite for International Happiness Day which is on July 10 and has its own group on Facebook. I just loved the concept of it so I went and checked it out and they were looking for ambassadors for different countries.
I asked them what I had to do to be ambassador for the UAE and they said, ‘Just ask,’ so I did.”
Dina immediately began to get going on organising ideas for happiness related events and information in line with her new role. “I first of all sent out the press release advertising International Happiness Day on July 10, trying to get the word out. It got picked up online which I was really excited about. From there I set up the UAE Facebook group for the Happiness Club which now has over 185 members. And then I decided to form an actual Happiness Club where people can meet and find happiness.
These clubs are all over the US and the world so I thought I would give it a go here. It’s my way of giving something back and fulfilling my passion for doing something for humanity, as cheesy as that sounds, I’m beginning to sound like Miss Universe! But seriously I thought you have conferences on leadership, success workshops, management and stress classes so why not happiness?
Ultimately we are all looking for it so I think these classes can give people a helping hand.”
Read more: http://www.khaleejtimes.com/citytimes/inside.asp?xfile=/data/citytimes/2008/July/citytimes_July250.xml§ion=citytimes&col
DAVID LIGHT (Staff Reporter)
26 July 2008
Dubai-based Dina Sabnani believes in spreading joy, and has founded the Happiness Club in the UAE to help people find that elusive streak of sunshine in their lives
COULDN’TWE all do with a little bit more happiness in our lives? While life in the UAE is certainly not arduous, our fast paced lifestyles can leave us feeling a bit empty. Alright so you have the car, the villa, the job that makes you a small (or large) fortune, but can we ever say we have enough laughter, friends and fun? The job that does make you a tidy sum often gets in the way of the finer things in life. Nine to five is out and in the Emirates work takes precedence.
How can one find the time to specifically dedicate to nourishing the soul, feeling good about life and enjoying oneself?
It is therefore with some considerable excitement that City Times can announce the inaugural meeting of The Happiness Club today at 3pm to 5pm at Zen restaurant, gate six of Zabeel Park Dubai. A phenomenon that originated in America and has swept across the world, Happiness Clubs are all the rage from Los Angeles to Lausanne.
Founded by American Lionel Ketchian, the first Happiness Club met in January 2000 in Fairfield, Connecticut as a result of a Happiness Class Lionel gave at a University in the state.
After the class graduated they wanted to keep meeting to continue to practice the new found happiness skills they learned hence the establishment of the Happiness Club. The Fairfield Club has been meeting every month since that date. They have continued to spread the word across the USA and the world via the internet, and Dubai is the 38th Happiness Club. At the moment there are five Happiness Clubs in countries outside the United States in: Australia, Canada, Denmark, Jerusalem, New Zealand and Switzerland. Dubai is set to become the sixth.
The UAE gets a Happiness Club
The woman responsible for bringing the idea to the UAE and recently appointed Happiness Club Ambassador for the Emirates by the founder, the effervescent Dina Sabnani, had a chat with City Times giving us the low-down on what goes on in the meetings and what she hopes to achieve with the club.
Dina has been living in Dubai for the last three years. “People here have such busy lives that they often forget that beyond the cars and villas that work affords you there needs to be happiness otherwise what’s the point? I’m an extremely happy person and I see others here that are not so I thought I would start up this group that meets every month.”
“It really all began with Facebook. With Facebook being as social as it is I have been networking with some interesting people across the world and one of those was a popular law of attraction coach in the US.
Through him I got an invite for International Happiness Day which is on July 10 and has its own group on Facebook. I just loved the concept of it so I went and checked it out and they were looking for ambassadors for different countries.
I asked them what I had to do to be ambassador for the UAE and they said, ‘Just ask,’ so I did.”
Dina immediately began to get going on organising ideas for happiness related events and information in line with her new role. “I first of all sent out the press release advertising International Happiness Day on July 10, trying to get the word out. It got picked up online which I was really excited about. From there I set up the UAE Facebook group for the Happiness Club which now has over 185 members. And then I decided to form an actual Happiness Club where people can meet and find happiness.
These clubs are all over the US and the world so I thought I would give it a go here. It’s my way of giving something back and fulfilling my passion for doing something for humanity, as cheesy as that sounds, I’m beginning to sound like Miss Universe! But seriously I thought you have conferences on leadership, success workshops, management and stress classes so why not happiness?
Ultimately we are all looking for it so I think these classes can give people a helping hand.”
Read more: http://www.khaleejtimes.com/citytimes/inside.asp?xfile=/data/citytimes/2008/July/citytimes_July250.xml§ion=citytimes&col
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Finding Your Zone
The new book, Finding Your Zone, Ten Core Lessons for Achieving Peak Performance in Sports and Life by Michael Lardon, M.D. The lessons are truly great lessons for athletes and everyone who want to learn how to deal with life's stresses and problems. Dr. Lardon is a sports psychiatrist who has worked with may well-known PGA, NFL, and Olympic athletes. He is an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California at San Diego. His website is www.drlardon.com or www.Knowmindsports.com. Dr. Lardon writes, "If you want to find the Zone of life, you can seek to find what makes you happy, and when you do this, your ego does not matter." I benefited from reading Finding Your Zone and enjoyed the way Dr. Lardon explains many of the ways the will better serve us in sports and in life. He shares his expertise knowledge of dealing with fear. Dr. Lardon has done a good job of explaining The Zone by using a great deal of spirituality and his wisdom is truly powerful and will make a big difference in your life. Get in the Zone today! Lionel Ketchian
Thursday, July 10, 2008
International Happiness Day
International Happiness Day, today July 10, 2008
We have a wonderful happiness gift for you!
The book: Gateway To Happiness, (A Condensed 60 page Edition) by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin has been made available to you as a free e-book. International Happiness Day is July 10th, which happens to be a year to the day that Rabbi Pliskin's mother passed away. It is Rabbi Pliskin's vision to see that people are as happy as possible. Rabbi Pliskin is happy to share his extraordinary book with you, so that you can experience the wonderful joy of happiness. Read this book, practice what you learn and you are on your way to being happy. Go to www.happinessclub.com look under the "books" section at the top of the screen and download the book for yourself, and tell your family and friends to do the same.
Gateway To Happiness is very helpful book to assist us all in understanding happiness better. It is a very enlightening and comprehensive book on happiness. The most incredible components of this book are the first four chapters. Chapter 1: Happiness is an obligation, Chapter 2: Appreciating what you have, Chapter 3: Happiness is dependent on your thoughts, and Chapter 4: Peace of mind. These four chapters include some of the best thinking and teaching explanations on happiness.
You can put your name and information at this point and send this out to everyone who you would like to have this gift book.
www.internationalhappinessday.com
Activities today:
3:30pm EST (12:30pm PST, 8:30pm UK time) - Join the phone call with Eva Gregory and Jeanna Gabellini, the US Ambassadors for International Happiness Day and the founder of the Happiness Clubs, Lionel Ketchian on specific strategies for being happier. Free registration at the website.
Downloading a list by Sonja Lyubomirsky for strategies to increase happiness - specifically created for international happiness day.
Information on how to start a local Happiness Club on the website www.happinessclub.com.
Sharing Real Love, Lasting Peace, Brilliant Health & Enduring Happiness with you,
Lionel Ketchian
www.happinessclub.com
We have a wonderful happiness gift for you!
The book: Gateway To Happiness, (A Condensed 60 page Edition) by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin has been made available to you as a free e-book. International Happiness Day is July 10th, which happens to be a year to the day that Rabbi Pliskin's mother passed away. It is Rabbi Pliskin's vision to see that people are as happy as possible. Rabbi Pliskin is happy to share his extraordinary book with you, so that you can experience the wonderful joy of happiness. Read this book, practice what you learn and you are on your way to being happy. Go to www.happinessclub.com look under the "books" section at the top of the screen and download the book for yourself, and tell your family and friends to do the same.
Gateway To Happiness is very helpful book to assist us all in understanding happiness better. It is a very enlightening and comprehensive book on happiness. The most incredible components of this book are the first four chapters. Chapter 1: Happiness is an obligation, Chapter 2: Appreciating what you have, Chapter 3: Happiness is dependent on your thoughts, and Chapter 4: Peace of mind. These four chapters include some of the best thinking and teaching explanations on happiness.
You can put your name and information at this point and send this out to everyone who you would like to have this gift book.
www.internationalhappinessday.com
Activities today:
3:30pm EST (12:30pm PST, 8:30pm UK time) - Join the phone call with Eva Gregory and Jeanna Gabellini, the US Ambassadors for International Happiness Day and the founder of the Happiness Clubs, Lionel Ketchian on specific strategies for being happier. Free registration at the website.
Downloading a list by Sonja Lyubomirsky for strategies to increase happiness - specifically created for international happiness day.
Information on how to start a local Happiness Club on the website www.happinessclub.com.
Sharing Real Love, Lasting Peace, Brilliant Health & Enduring Happiness with you,
Lionel Ketchian
www.happinessclub.com
Saturday, June 28, 2008
I Will Not Be Broken
The new book, I Will Not Be Broken by Jerry White gives you five empowering steps to cope with bad situations. It will help you take control of your life no matter what has or will happen to you. Jerry says, "To truly thrive, we must consciously choose for our lives to go on in a positive way." Jerry's experience has given him simple wisdom, which was not easy to learn. Jerry said: "On April 12, 1984, that landmine stole a part of my leg, but not me. I never gave it the power to make me less than whole, less than who I am. I've learned that nothing is big enough to do that. Nothing can eradicate joy and peace forever, unless we allow it." I included Jerry's quote because this is the secret to enduring happiness.
Jerry learned to escape the victim trap which is essential for healing the body and the mind. We must learn to face reality, no matter what we are dealt and empower ourselves no matter what our obstacles might be. Jerry lost his leg and almost lost his life. After reading I Will Not Be Broken I think that Jerry not only overcame the loss of his leg but became a truly whole human being. We could envy what Jerry has become because he has gained so much more than he lost. He has become more than he ever was and most importantly, Jerry shares it with you because giving back is one of the ways Jerry has empowered himself and so many others. If you read his book you will learn this profound wisdom and be able to use it in your own life.
Jerry learned to escape the victim trap which is essential for healing the body and the mind. We must learn to face reality, no matter what we are dealt and empower ourselves no matter what our obstacles might be. Jerry lost his leg and almost lost his life. After reading I Will Not Be Broken I think that Jerry not only overcame the loss of his leg but became a truly whole human being. We could envy what Jerry has become because he has gained so much more than he lost. He has become more than he ever was and most importantly, Jerry shares it with you because giving back is one of the ways Jerry has empowered himself and so many others. If you read his book you will learn this profound wisdom and be able to use it in your own life.
Monday, June 23, 2008
INTERNATIONAL HAPPINESS DAY!
INTERNATIONAL HAPPINESS DAY!
July 10, 2008
BE HAPPY ZONE
By Lionel Ketchian
What would be the impact, in the world, if 1,000,000 people celebrated happiness the same day? Eva Gregory and Jeanna Gabellini are the US Ambassadors for International Happiness Day. How did this all start, you ask? A man, who's name is Liberto Pereda Romera of Barcelona, Spain recently initiated this project. In addition an organization called: This Happy Planet with Mark Webb, Aymee Coget and myself are also working on this project.
The reason I am giving total support to International Happiness Day, is that we have been speaking to Jeanna and Eva, who are both truly wonderful human beings who completely understand happiness. Here is what Eva said about happiness: "This is a reminder to folks that happiness is their birthright and it's available to everyone. But they must make the decision to be happy. They have to choose. Happiness is a state of BEING not something we pursue. It is within the core of our being of who we really are." Now you can see why we have created this alliance to promote this wonderful day of awareness for being happy. Eva explains happiness exactly as I have for the past 18 years.
We currently have about 35 Happiness Clubs here in the USA and around the world. This month, we had our first meeting of the Whangaparaoa, New Zealand Happiness Club with Pat Armitstead leading it. On July 3, we will have the first meeting of the Happiness Club of Jerusalem, Israel at The Israel Center, with Host: Rabbi Zelig Pliskin, author of Gateway to Happiness and 22 other books. We are opening our first club in Las Vegas, NV with Christine Kevorkian as the facilitator. We have started one in Sydney, Australia with Professor Timothy Sharp, Ph. D., as the Advisor.
Do you want to start a happiness club near you? Listen to step by step instructions about how to do it with Happiness Expert Aymee Coget? Aymee started the San Francisco Happiness Club in 2004, and is ready to share simple steps to help your happiness club succeed. Join us for our once a month hour-long happiness club leadership Video-Teleconference. Listen on the phone, or watch and listen to Aymee while on your computer. The call will be held on July 2nd at 12:00 PM, EST. To receive call in access information and conference materials, send an e-mail to Narine at: narine.psy@gmail.com
Eva, further speaks about International Happiness Day by saying: "This is kinda like the Pay It Forward approach. Don't know if you saw the movie Pay It Forward but Trevor, the 12-year-old hero of Pay It Forward, thinks of quite an idea. He describes it to his mother and teacher this way: "You see, I do something real good for 3 people. And then when they ask how they can pay it back, I say they have to Pay It Forward, to 3 more people each, so 9 people get helped. Then those 9 people have to Pay It Forward to 27." He turned on the calculator, punched in a few numbers. "Then it sort of spreads out, see, to 81, then 243, then 729, then 2,187. See how big it gets?" The Pay It Forward concept of doing unselfish acts of kindness, a service for someone, and asking them to pay the kindness forward instead of paying it back, is a powerful idea. We can do this for International Happiness Day...and beyond!" I totally agree, Pay It Forward is one of my favorite movies.
Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D., a Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside, where she is teaching Positive Psychology and is the author of the new book, The How of Happiness, has scientifically proven that practicing 5 acts of kindness a day will produce lasting happiness in an individual. Doing kind things for others, whether friends or strangers, either directly or anonymously, either spontaneously or planned, will help you to create and keep the happiness experience yourself.
We need your help and support in promoting the celebration of International Happiness Day on July 10th. We understand that "Intention Creates Outcome." What if one million people from all over the planet celebrated happiness on the same day? What would the impact in the world be with such a strongly shared intention? We're convinced that this will have a powerful, positive impact on the world. Come join our group on Facebook. facebook.com/editalbum.php#/group.php?gid=10644279659
We have gotten the party started so, come on in and leave a message on our Wall! If you don't have a profile on Facebook yet, it's easy! Go to Facebook.com to sign up. Once you've joined, click on: Join Group just under Jeanna's and Eva's picture. Be sure to review the page, read the discussion boards, and enjoy the videos. Bookmark the Group Page and come back often as we'll be getting active with discussions and free Tele-classes between now and International Happiness Day on July 10. Pass this message along to all your friends, and ask them to do the same!
Join me for International Happiness Day on July 10. Let's share our joy and Pay It Forward. Help spread happiness all around the world. Here's to outrageous and contagious HAPPINESS!
Lionel Ketchian is the founder of the Happiness Club and can be reached at PrintLRK@aol.com. The website is www.HappinessClub.com.
July 10, 2008
BE HAPPY ZONE
By Lionel Ketchian
What would be the impact, in the world, if 1,000,000 people celebrated happiness the same day? Eva Gregory and Jeanna Gabellini are the US Ambassadors for International Happiness Day. How did this all start, you ask? A man, who's name is Liberto Pereda Romera of Barcelona, Spain recently initiated this project. In addition an organization called: This Happy Planet with Mark Webb, Aymee Coget and myself are also working on this project.
The reason I am giving total support to International Happiness Day, is that we have been speaking to Jeanna and Eva, who are both truly wonderful human beings who completely understand happiness. Here is what Eva said about happiness: "This is a reminder to folks that happiness is their birthright and it's available to everyone. But they must make the decision to be happy. They have to choose. Happiness is a state of BEING not something we pursue. It is within the core of our being of who we really are." Now you can see why we have created this alliance to promote this wonderful day of awareness for being happy. Eva explains happiness exactly as I have for the past 18 years.
We currently have about 35 Happiness Clubs here in the USA and around the world. This month, we had our first meeting of the Whangaparaoa, New Zealand Happiness Club with Pat Armitstead leading it. On July 3, we will have the first meeting of the Happiness Club of Jerusalem, Israel at The Israel Center, with Host: Rabbi Zelig Pliskin, author of Gateway to Happiness and 22 other books. We are opening our first club in Las Vegas, NV with Christine Kevorkian as the facilitator. We have started one in Sydney, Australia with Professor Timothy Sharp, Ph. D., as the Advisor.
Do you want to start a happiness club near you? Listen to step by step instructions about how to do it with Happiness Expert Aymee Coget? Aymee started the San Francisco Happiness Club in 2004, and is ready to share simple steps to help your happiness club succeed. Join us for our once a month hour-long happiness club leadership Video-Teleconference. Listen on the phone, or watch and listen to Aymee while on your computer. The call will be held on July 2nd at 12:00 PM, EST. To receive call in access information and conference materials, send an e-mail to Narine at: narine.psy@gmail.com
Eva, further speaks about International Happiness Day by saying: "This is kinda like the Pay It Forward approach. Don't know if you saw the movie Pay It Forward but Trevor, the 12-year-old hero of Pay It Forward, thinks of quite an idea. He describes it to his mother and teacher this way: "You see, I do something real good for 3 people. And then when they ask how they can pay it back, I say they have to Pay It Forward, to 3 more people each, so 9 people get helped. Then those 9 people have to Pay It Forward to 27." He turned on the calculator, punched in a few numbers. "Then it sort of spreads out, see, to 81, then 243, then 729, then 2,187. See how big it gets?" The Pay It Forward concept of doing unselfish acts of kindness, a service for someone, and asking them to pay the kindness forward instead of paying it back, is a powerful idea. We can do this for International Happiness Day...and beyond!" I totally agree, Pay It Forward is one of my favorite movies.
Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D., a Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside, where she is teaching Positive Psychology and is the author of the new book, The How of Happiness, has scientifically proven that practicing 5 acts of kindness a day will produce lasting happiness in an individual. Doing kind things for others, whether friends or strangers, either directly or anonymously, either spontaneously or planned, will help you to create and keep the happiness experience yourself.
We need your help and support in promoting the celebration of International Happiness Day on July 10th. We understand that "Intention Creates Outcome." What if one million people from all over the planet celebrated happiness on the same day? What would the impact in the world be with such a strongly shared intention? We're convinced that this will have a powerful, positive impact on the world. Come join our group on Facebook. facebook.com/editalbum.php#/group.php?gid=10644279659
We have gotten the party started so, come on in and leave a message on our Wall! If you don't have a profile on Facebook yet, it's easy! Go to Facebook.com to sign up. Once you've joined, click on: Join Group just under Jeanna's and Eva's picture. Be sure to review the page, read the discussion boards, and enjoy the videos. Bookmark the Group Page and come back often as we'll be getting active with discussions and free Tele-classes between now and International Happiness Day on July 10. Pass this message along to all your friends, and ask them to do the same!
Join me for International Happiness Day on July 10. Let's share our joy and Pay It Forward. Help spread happiness all around the world. Here's to outrageous and contagious HAPPINESS!
Lionel Ketchian is the founder of the Happiness Club and can be reached at PrintLRK@aol.com. The website is www.HappinessClub.com.
Monday, June 09, 2008
Choosing Brilliant Health
Choosing Brilliant Health
June 4, 2008
BE HAPPY ZONE
By Lionel Ketchian
Rick Foster & Greg Hicks, along with Jen Seda, M.D. have just published a very important new book called: Choosing Brilliant Health. 9 Choices That Redefine What It Takes to Create Lifelong Vitality and Well-Being. "Scientists have found that happiness or as researchers call it, "positive affect," not only precedes good health, but is a root cause of good health." What the authors mean by the term brilliant is: "the way we engage our maximum intelligence and emotional wisdom through choices that elevate us both mentally and physically, even in the face of illness or disability."
Foster & Hicks have spent years traveling around the world talking with doctors and finding model happy people and patients to compile all the research in this book. Rick and Greg have spoken to thousands of people. This book is a revolutionary step to more freedom, responsibility, happiness and health. It changes the focus of health. It details how we can empower ourselves to better health by learning to incorporate more happiness in our lives.
The first book they both wrote: How We Choose to Be Happy, is on my 20 best happiness books listed on my website. They found that what distinguishes those people who are extremely happy, are the nine choices they make throughout their lives — choices that determine their behavior in a wide range of circumstances. The book How We Choose to Be Happy showed us how anyone can incorporate these choices into their lives to create personal happiness.
With the creation of this new book, Choosing Brilliant Health, the authors have given us a new model for learning how our happiness positively affects our heath. For example, one of the 9 choices that affects our health is Intention. "Creating a Brilliant Health Intention happens at the moment you make a conscious choice toward your most beneficial thought, feeling, or behavior. In doing so, you are purposefully giving yourself messages about who you want to be, how you want to react, and what actions you want to take."
This is a very important book that will change the way we view modern medicine. Like it or not, we can't continue to just treat the body and expect maximum good health, we must include our mind and our attitude. Rick and Greg say, "When you're not choosing Brilliant Health Intentions, your unconscious mind can bring on the negative, and you create pathways in your brain that, indeed, reinforce the negative, painful, and threatening aspects of the experience." This adds nothing but stress, because your mind starts looking for everything that is wrong around you.
The work produced in this book is now coming to hospitals everywhere in the world. St. Vincent's Hospital in Bridgeport has been listening to a two-day presentation by Rick Foster one of the authors. The staff is learning how to incorporate some of these beneficial scientific health and happiness connections.
Another important happiness concept is accountability. The authors have found that happy people are accountable to themselves. Why is this so important for your health? The authors found have uncovered the fact that feeling and acting like a victim has devastating effects on a persons health. They report, "When this becomes a way of life, we're stuck in the lower brain functions of reacting, with a direct impact on brain regions that secrete chemicals into the bloodstream."
Another example of their 9 findings of happy and healthy people is Appreciation. A patient using appreciation techniques reported: "By the time the doctor strolled in, the patient was much more present, calm, cool, and collected. The news was good, and with his wits about him, he was able to hear the diagnosis and ask intelligent questions about managing his health as he moved forward." Appreciation can make you smarter and more responsive to the situations in the present moment.
Two days ago, I finished a one-hour interview with Greg Hicks on our Virtual Happiness Club. You can listen to the entire interview on our website. It is a very important discussion that you don't want to miss. It can improve your health. Greg mentioned that he thought one of the most important things you can do is to create the right intention for you life. He also felt that regardless of the circumstances, you could choose to be happy and create the kind of attitude that is beneficial for you. I cannot agree more with Greg's words.
Rick Foster and Greg Hicks have given us a gift. Like all gifts, if you don't open it, and I am referring to their important and wonderful book Choosing Brilliant Health, you cannot benefit from it. The gift that Rick and Greg are giving you is very valuable. Make sure you pick up your gift and open it, read it, and benefit from 13 years of work needed to produce this remarkable masterpiece. The faster you learn how much control you have over your health, the happier and healthier you will be!
Lionel Ketchian is the founder of the Happiness Club and can be reached at PrintLRK@aol.com. The website is www.HappinessClub.com.
June 4, 2008
BE HAPPY ZONE
By Lionel Ketchian
Rick Foster & Greg Hicks, along with Jen Seda, M.D. have just published a very important new book called: Choosing Brilliant Health. 9 Choices That Redefine What It Takes to Create Lifelong Vitality and Well-Being. "Scientists have found that happiness or as researchers call it, "positive affect," not only precedes good health, but is a root cause of good health." What the authors mean by the term brilliant is: "the way we engage our maximum intelligence and emotional wisdom through choices that elevate us both mentally and physically, even in the face of illness or disability."
Foster & Hicks have spent years traveling around the world talking with doctors and finding model happy people and patients to compile all the research in this book. Rick and Greg have spoken to thousands of people. This book is a revolutionary step to more freedom, responsibility, happiness and health. It changes the focus of health. It details how we can empower ourselves to better health by learning to incorporate more happiness in our lives.
The first book they both wrote: How We Choose to Be Happy, is on my 20 best happiness books listed on my website. They found that what distinguishes those people who are extremely happy, are the nine choices they make throughout their lives — choices that determine their behavior in a wide range of circumstances. The book How We Choose to Be Happy showed us how anyone can incorporate these choices into their lives to create personal happiness.
With the creation of this new book, Choosing Brilliant Health, the authors have given us a new model for learning how our happiness positively affects our heath. For example, one of the 9 choices that affects our health is Intention. "Creating a Brilliant Health Intention happens at the moment you make a conscious choice toward your most beneficial thought, feeling, or behavior. In doing so, you are purposefully giving yourself messages about who you want to be, how you want to react, and what actions you want to take."
This is a very important book that will change the way we view modern medicine. Like it or not, we can't continue to just treat the body and expect maximum good health, we must include our mind and our attitude. Rick and Greg say, "When you're not choosing Brilliant Health Intentions, your unconscious mind can bring on the negative, and you create pathways in your brain that, indeed, reinforce the negative, painful, and threatening aspects of the experience." This adds nothing but stress, because your mind starts looking for everything that is wrong around you.
The work produced in this book is now coming to hospitals everywhere in the world. St. Vincent's Hospital in Bridgeport has been listening to a two-day presentation by Rick Foster one of the authors. The staff is learning how to incorporate some of these beneficial scientific health and happiness connections.
Another important happiness concept is accountability. The authors have found that happy people are accountable to themselves. Why is this so important for your health? The authors found have uncovered the fact that feeling and acting like a victim has devastating effects on a persons health. They report, "When this becomes a way of life, we're stuck in the lower brain functions of reacting, with a direct impact on brain regions that secrete chemicals into the bloodstream."
Another example of their 9 findings of happy and healthy people is Appreciation. A patient using appreciation techniques reported: "By the time the doctor strolled in, the patient was much more present, calm, cool, and collected. The news was good, and with his wits about him, he was able to hear the diagnosis and ask intelligent questions about managing his health as he moved forward." Appreciation can make you smarter and more responsive to the situations in the present moment.
Two days ago, I finished a one-hour interview with Greg Hicks on our Virtual Happiness Club. You can listen to the entire interview on our website. It is a very important discussion that you don't want to miss. It can improve your health. Greg mentioned that he thought one of the most important things you can do is to create the right intention for you life. He also felt that regardless of the circumstances, you could choose to be happy and create the kind of attitude that is beneficial for you. I cannot agree more with Greg's words.
Rick Foster and Greg Hicks have given us a gift. Like all gifts, if you don't open it, and I am referring to their important and wonderful book Choosing Brilliant Health, you cannot benefit from it. The gift that Rick and Greg are giving you is very valuable. Make sure you pick up your gift and open it, read it, and benefit from 13 years of work needed to produce this remarkable masterpiece. The faster you learn how much control you have over your health, the happier and healthier you will be!
Lionel Ketchian is the founder of the Happiness Club and can be reached at PrintLRK@aol.com. The website is www.HappinessClub.com.
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Five Reasons for Being Happy
Five Reasons for Being Happy
SUCCESS
Success is a great reason for being happy. Albert Schweitzer wisely said: "Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful." What do you think success is? You might think it is a great paying job, a large house, or driving the latest car. Those things may help you look successful, but unless you're happy you won't feel like you're complete or successful. Don't allow the outer world to define your success. Only you know what is important to you. Doing what you love may not make you as much money as some other type of work, but it will make you more successful than just making money.
HEALTH
Health is another good reason for being happy. This not only includes your physical health, but your mental health and wellbeing as well. The health benefits derived from being happy are tremendous and there are many additional benefits you will receive from being happy. Research has found that you can live ten years longer! Not a bad benefit from being happy! You can also reduce anger, experience less stress and confusion, while having the capacity to focus and concentrate on what you are doing.
FRIENDSHIP
Friendship is another great benefit of happiness. Start by becoming friends with yourself first. Being happy is the very best way to accomplish that task. Foster C. McClellan said, "Create the kind of self you will be happy to live with all your life." Being happy leads to enhanced relationships, and gives you the ability to enjoy your life, while enriching the lives of others with your happiness. As you learn to use happiness to make a positive difference in your life, you will want to start using it to spread happiness to others, increasing your probability of meeting more friends. The important element is that you will be attracting more friends that you have a lot in common with.
POWER
Believe it or not, power is a benefit of being happy. The reason for this is that happiness is authentic power. When you are being happy, you do not give your power away to others. You learn to exercise control within yourself, no matter what the situation is. You will think in terms of the choices available to you at the time. The world has tried to use power over others, rather than developing inner power. Inner power requires self-discipline and practice. By being happy we use better patience and self-control. We are better able to access greater intelligence and utilize wisdom. As a result of controlling ourselves we experience emotional competence.
Authentic power means never volunteering to make yourself a victim. It means that you do not try to control other people. It means that you do not allow yourself to be forced into acting the way others think you should act. Authentic power allows you to feel like you can change the world because you are taking control of yourself. It allows you to deal with difficult people and anger when it arises. It gives you the ability to cope with fear and anxiety. You will be able to forgive people and stop labeling them. Free yourself from self-doubt and despair, stop feeling guilty, and let go of the past so you don't react to this moment based on your past conditioning. It means you become proactive, to allow your wisdom and common sense to make the change you want to see occur in the next moment.
SPIRITUALITY
Spirituality is a big benefit to being happy. Spirituality is creating inner peace. I have always said that fear is the opposite of happiness. John Milton is known for these beautiful words: "The mind is its own place, and in itself, can make a Heaven of Hell and a Hell of Heaven." As you become happy, you find that you are less fearful and less motivated by the negative. You are more attracted to the positive. Acceptance is a large part of spiritual teaching. Dealing with change is very difficult for people. When you don't accept something that has already happened, you create resistance to it. The resistance you are creating will cause you to suffer. The change has already happened and if there is nothing you can do about it, but you continue to resist it, you will make yourself unhappy.
Another aspect of spirituality is being thankful about something most of the time. What are you grateful for now? Meister Eckhart spoke these words of wisdom: "If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, 'thank you,' that would suffice."
Being in the present moment is essential to happiness. Awareness is a critical ingredient of happiness. Only a conscious person can be happy. Only a conscious happy person can use the power of making a choice for his/her own good. Ego is the enemy of happiness, and over thinking can create unhappiness. Learn not to take things personally. Most of our thinking is about obsessing over things we have no control over. Happiness is a way to inner peace and a doorway for peace in the world.
SUCCESS
Success is a great reason for being happy. Albert Schweitzer wisely said: "Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful." What do you think success is? You might think it is a great paying job, a large house, or driving the latest car. Those things may help you look successful, but unless you're happy you won't feel like you're complete or successful. Don't allow the outer world to define your success. Only you know what is important to you. Doing what you love may not make you as much money as some other type of work, but it will make you more successful than just making money.
HEALTH
Health is another good reason for being happy. This not only includes your physical health, but your mental health and wellbeing as well. The health benefits derived from being happy are tremendous and there are many additional benefits you will receive from being happy. Research has found that you can live ten years longer! Not a bad benefit from being happy! You can also reduce anger, experience less stress and confusion, while having the capacity to focus and concentrate on what you are doing.
FRIENDSHIP
Friendship is another great benefit of happiness. Start by becoming friends with yourself first. Being happy is the very best way to accomplish that task. Foster C. McClellan said, "Create the kind of self you will be happy to live with all your life." Being happy leads to enhanced relationships, and gives you the ability to enjoy your life, while enriching the lives of others with your happiness. As you learn to use happiness to make a positive difference in your life, you will want to start using it to spread happiness to others, increasing your probability of meeting more friends. The important element is that you will be attracting more friends that you have a lot in common with.
POWER
Believe it or not, power is a benefit of being happy. The reason for this is that happiness is authentic power. When you are being happy, you do not give your power away to others. You learn to exercise control within yourself, no matter what the situation is. You will think in terms of the choices available to you at the time. The world has tried to use power over others, rather than developing inner power. Inner power requires self-discipline and practice. By being happy we use better patience and self-control. We are better able to access greater intelligence and utilize wisdom. As a result of controlling ourselves we experience emotional competence.
Authentic power means never volunteering to make yourself a victim. It means that you do not try to control other people. It means that you do not allow yourself to be forced into acting the way others think you should act. Authentic power allows you to feel like you can change the world because you are taking control of yourself. It allows you to deal with difficult people and anger when it arises. It gives you the ability to cope with fear and anxiety. You will be able to forgive people and stop labeling them. Free yourself from self-doubt and despair, stop feeling guilty, and let go of the past so you don't react to this moment based on your past conditioning. It means you become proactive, to allow your wisdom and common sense to make the change you want to see occur in the next moment.
SPIRITUALITY
Spirituality is a big benefit to being happy. Spirituality is creating inner peace. I have always said that fear is the opposite of happiness. John Milton is known for these beautiful words: "The mind is its own place, and in itself, can make a Heaven of Hell and a Hell of Heaven." As you become happy, you find that you are less fearful and less motivated by the negative. You are more attracted to the positive. Acceptance is a large part of spiritual teaching. Dealing with change is very difficult for people. When you don't accept something that has already happened, you create resistance to it. The resistance you are creating will cause you to suffer. The change has already happened and if there is nothing you can do about it, but you continue to resist it, you will make yourself unhappy.
Another aspect of spirituality is being thankful about something most of the time. What are you grateful for now? Meister Eckhart spoke these words of wisdom: "If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, 'thank you,' that would suffice."
Being in the present moment is essential to happiness. Awareness is a critical ingredient of happiness. Only a conscious person can be happy. Only a conscious happy person can use the power of making a choice for his/her own good. Ego is the enemy of happiness, and over thinking can create unhappiness. Learn not to take things personally. Most of our thinking is about obsessing over things we have no control over. Happiness is a way to inner peace and a doorway for peace in the world.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die!
The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die!
April 23, 2008
BE HAPPY ZONE
By Lionel Ketchian
What are the Five Secrets? The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die, is the name of a great new book by John Izzo, Ph.D. The book begins with a premise that we might be better off learning those things that could help us live a better life, from older people who have lived that life. Dr. Izzo found about 200 people between the ages of 58-105 years old. He asks the question: "Would we learn some important things about living with purpose and finding deep happiness if we talked to those who had lived most of their lives already and had found happiness and meaning?" John found in his interviews that "all happy and wise people eventually discover and live these five secrets."
John distinguishes knowledge from wisdom in that there is a great deal of knowledge and more is being created all the time. Wisdom, is the ability to know what is important and what is not important. This is critical to finding real meaning in one's life. Dr. Izzo, holding advanced degrees in religion and psychology, said, "In my experience, the two things humans want most are to find happiness and meaning."
What are the secrets? I will tell you, but you still have to read the book to really learn and understand the secrets. "The first secret is: be true to your self." John raises this thought: "The question that happy people ask is not whether they are focusing on what matters but whether they are focusing on what matters to them! The second secret is: leave no regrets." John uncovers an important directive for our happiness, when he reports the following: "Perhaps what often determines our happiness in life is the step we take after a setback."
"The third secret is: become love. When they spoke (to the 200 elders) of how important love was in their lives, they were defining love more as a choice than an emotion. The secret to a happy and purposeful life was to choose to be a loving person, to become love." John mentions the reason he feels this way is the following. "Although we have little control over whether we get love, we have almost complete control over whether we become love."
An interesting study of 100 of the happiest people by Marci Shimoff the author of the great new book, Happy for No Reason, 7 Steps to Being Happy from the Inside Out revealed a similar conclusion: Those 100 happy people were all loving people that felt a connection to others. These two studies and the interviews can teach us how important love can be for the happiness of the individual.
"The fourth secret is: live the moment. I have discovered that happy people know that we are more in control of our minds than most people realize. The fifth secret is: give more than you take." In his interviews, John learned this profound truth. The happiest people he interviewed were the least focused on themselves. Robert Louis Stevenson said, “To forget oneself is to be happy.”
With great awareness, John advises us about: "Preparing to die well: happy people are not afraid to die." John says, "Unless we come to peace with death, not as some foreign invader but as a part of what it means to be human, only then can we find peace." John further advises us, "I also learned that until we accept that death is a part of life, we are not ready to embrace life."
I agree with John on the idea of accepting our death without fear. I have found that facing my own death with awareness has become a liberating thing for me. It has freed me from fear and uncertainty and brought me to live in the present moment with lasting happiness. It may be helpful to quote the words of Bertolt Brecht, who said: "Do not fear death so much, but rather the inadequate life."
John wants you to "contemplate the five secrets." He says, "Try to resist the temptation to "judge" your life. Instead, ask: How can I embrace and live the five secrets more deeply?" John is very perceptive in advising us not to judge our life. Judging produces a negative state in us, and does nothing to change the things we want to change. I am so glad that John has written this wonderful book. I am grateful to John for raising our awareness of the important things we can learn before it is too late.
We do not need to acquire more knowledge; we need to master more wisdom. This way we can to live our lives with authenticity and power. John reveals this wisdom to us with great insights, and shows us lasting peace through his interviews with the elder individuals he spent time with to create this book. I recommend this book to you whole-heartedly. You can take my word for it, because being 62 years old and happy, I fall into the category this book was created from.
Now that I told you about this great book, I know you will be dying to read it. Buy it, borrow it, take it out of the library and read it. You will find that it offers you a great deal to live for. It will help you become a positive force in your own life and the lives of others.
Lionel Ketchian is the founder of the Happiness Club and can be reached at PrintLRK@aol.com. The website is .
April 23, 2008
BE HAPPY ZONE
By Lionel Ketchian
What are the Five Secrets? The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die, is the name of a great new book by John Izzo, Ph.D. The book begins with a premise that we might be better off learning those things that could help us live a better life, from older people who have lived that life. Dr. Izzo found about 200 people between the ages of 58-105 years old. He asks the question: "Would we learn some important things about living with purpose and finding deep happiness if we talked to those who had lived most of their lives already and had found happiness and meaning?" John found in his interviews that "all happy and wise people eventually discover and live these five secrets."
John distinguishes knowledge from wisdom in that there is a great deal of knowledge and more is being created all the time. Wisdom, is the ability to know what is important and what is not important. This is critical to finding real meaning in one's life. Dr. Izzo, holding advanced degrees in religion and psychology, said, "In my experience, the two things humans want most are to find happiness and meaning."
What are the secrets? I will tell you, but you still have to read the book to really learn and understand the secrets. "The first secret is: be true to your self." John raises this thought: "The question that happy people ask is not whether they are focusing on what matters but whether they are focusing on what matters to them! The second secret is: leave no regrets." John uncovers an important directive for our happiness, when he reports the following: "Perhaps what often determines our happiness in life is the step we take after a setback."
"The third secret is: become love. When they spoke (to the 200 elders) of how important love was in their lives, they were defining love more as a choice than an emotion. The secret to a happy and purposeful life was to choose to be a loving person, to become love." John mentions the reason he feels this way is the following. "Although we have little control over whether we get love, we have almost complete control over whether we become love."
An interesting study of 100 of the happiest people by Marci Shimoff the author of the great new book, Happy for No Reason, 7 Steps to Being Happy from the Inside Out revealed a similar conclusion: Those 100 happy people were all loving people that felt a connection to others. These two studies and the interviews can teach us how important love can be for the happiness of the individual.
"The fourth secret is: live the moment. I have discovered that happy people know that we are more in control of our minds than most people realize. The fifth secret is: give more than you take." In his interviews, John learned this profound truth. The happiest people he interviewed were the least focused on themselves. Robert Louis Stevenson said, “To forget oneself is to be happy.”
With great awareness, John advises us about: "Preparing to die well: happy people are not afraid to die." John says, "Unless we come to peace with death, not as some foreign invader but as a part of what it means to be human, only then can we find peace." John further advises us, "I also learned that until we accept that death is a part of life, we are not ready to embrace life."
I agree with John on the idea of accepting our death without fear. I have found that facing my own death with awareness has become a liberating thing for me. It has freed me from fear and uncertainty and brought me to live in the present moment with lasting happiness. It may be helpful to quote the words of Bertolt Brecht, who said: "Do not fear death so much, but rather the inadequate life."
John wants you to "contemplate the five secrets." He says, "Try to resist the temptation to "judge" your life. Instead, ask: How can I embrace and live the five secrets more deeply?" John is very perceptive in advising us not to judge our life. Judging produces a negative state in us, and does nothing to change the things we want to change. I am so glad that John has written this wonderful book. I am grateful to John for raising our awareness of the important things we can learn before it is too late.
We do not need to acquire more knowledge; we need to master more wisdom. This way we can to live our lives with authenticity and power. John reveals this wisdom to us with great insights, and shows us lasting peace through his interviews with the elder individuals he spent time with to create this book. I recommend this book to you whole-heartedly. You can take my word for it, because being 62 years old and happy, I fall into the category this book was created from.
Now that I told you about this great book, I know you will be dying to read it. Buy it, borrow it, take it out of the library and read it. You will find that it offers you a great deal to live for. It will help you become a positive force in your own life and the lives of others.
Lionel Ketchian is the founder of the Happiness Club and can be reached at PrintLRK@aol.com. The website is .
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