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.
Monday, June 23, 2008
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 .
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Warmth and Intelligence!
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
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
Friday, November 09, 2007
Become a Better You!
October 24, 2007
BE HAPPY ZONE
By Lionel Ketchian
This past week I saw Joel Osteen and his wife Victoria on 60 Minutes, Larry King, Fox News, and Glenn Beck. I understand they were on a number of other shows as well. Barbara Walters has named Joel one of the 10 Most Fascinating People. Joel Osteen is the senior pastor of Lakewood Church in Texas, the largest church in the United States. His church was the former home of the National Basketball Association's Houston Rockets. He converted the sports arena, known as the Compaq Center, into the Lakewood Church in July 2005. His wife, Victoria is also a pastor. Joel, now age 42, took over the church when his father, John, died in January 1999. 30,000 people attend Lakewood Church every Sunday.
Joel has just published his second book entitled, Become a Better You. Joel's first book, Your Best Life Now has been on the New York Times best selling book list. It is also on my 20 best happiness books, listed on my web site. Chapter 7 is called: Choose To Be Happy!
About six years ago, I happened to tune into a TV program on Sunday morning. I did not know who the person on TV was, because I had never heard of Joel Osteen at the time. I was immediately captivated by his message that day because he was speaking about happiness. The title of his talk that Sunday was Choose to Be Happy! I could not believe my eyes and ears. Here was a preacher talking about happiness. Joel said, "The bottom line is if you're gong to be happy, you need to make a decision to be happy right now. Happiness does not depend on your circumstances; it depends on your will. It's a choice that you make." Now you know why I love Joel Osteen.
You can see Joel on TV every Sunday morning, he is on hundreds of stations across the country. The show is watched by tens of millions of people in more than a hundred nations worldwide. In Connecticut, he has half-hour shows starting early in the morning which run until 9:30 AM on different channels. His message is always an important and positive one with no gloom and doom, no hell and damnation. Joel tells you how to deal with important issues in your life. Joel always delivers a message to help you cope with emotional issues and create the right attitude to live your life. I hear him mention happiness in almost every "sermon." Joel said, "To develop a habit of happiness, you must retrain those negative responses."
I have found people of all faiths, not just Christians, listen to Joel to hear his positive messages. In all the years I have seen Joel on TV, his basic format is the same. He always starts the program by telling a joke. The congregation remains standing for the joke and then Joel leads them in a 21-second bible vow. He never asks for money on the air. After delivering an inspiring and motivating talk he closes the broadcast with a 7-second prayer. Joel said, "Make a decision that you are going to live your life happily."
Joel is 42 years old and is doing an outstanding job of teaching people in the world to practice responsibility by practicing emotional control. Joel is showing us joy, peace, love and happiness in every message he gives. In an interview at Beliefnet.com, Laura Sheahen asked Joel: How does God want us to live our lives? Joel's answer was: "He want us to live our lives happy"
Joel said, "God does not want you to sacrifice your happiness to keep somebody else happy. At first brush, that may sound a little selfish, but there's a tenuous balance here. Your first priority is to take care of yourself. To do so, you must recognize that some people are still not going to be happy no matter what you do for them, no matter how nice you are, no matter how much time and energy you give them. They have their own issues with which to deal or things inside that they need to resolve."
All the quotes in this article are from Joel's new book. I recommend that you read Become a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day. The 7 keys are 1. Keep pressing forward. 2. Be positive toward yourself. 3. Develop better relationships. 4. Form better habits. 5. Embrace the place where you are. 6. Develop your inner life. 7. Stay passionate about life.
Joel says, "Friend, life is too short to go through it being controlled and manipulated by people who refuse to make good choices on their own. Please understand: You are not responsible for everybody else's happiness. You are responsible for your own happiness. If people are controlling you, it's not their fault; it's your fault. You must learn to set some boundaries."
Lionel Ketchian is the founder of the Happiness Club and can be reached at PrintLRK@aol.com. The website is www.HappinessClub.com.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See what's new at AOL.com and Make AOL Your Homepage.
BE HAPPY ZONE
By Lionel Ketchian
This past week I saw Joel Osteen and his wife Victoria on 60 Minutes, Larry King, Fox News, and Glenn Beck. I understand they were on a number of other shows as well. Barbara Walters has named Joel one of the 10 Most Fascinating People. Joel Osteen is the senior pastor of Lakewood Church in Texas, the largest church in the United States. His church was the former home of the National Basketball Association's Houston Rockets. He converted the sports arena, known as the Compaq Center, into the Lakewood Church in July 2005. His wife, Victoria is also a pastor. Joel, now age 42, took over the church when his father, John, died in January 1999. 30,000 people attend Lakewood Church every Sunday.
Joel has just published his second book entitled, Become a Better You. Joel's first book, Your Best Life Now has been on the New York Times best selling book list. It is also on my 20 best happiness books, listed on my web site. Chapter 7 is called: Choose To Be Happy!
About six years ago, I happened to tune into a TV program on Sunday morning. I did not know who the person on TV was, because I had never heard of Joel Osteen at the time. I was immediately captivated by his message that day because he was speaking about happiness. The title of his talk that Sunday was Choose to Be Happy! I could not believe my eyes and ears. Here was a preacher talking about happiness. Joel said, "The bottom line is if you're gong to be happy, you need to make a decision to be happy right now. Happiness does not depend on your circumstances; it depends on your will. It's a choice that you make." Now you know why I love Joel Osteen.
You can see Joel on TV every Sunday morning, he is on hundreds of stations across the country. The show is watched by tens of millions of people in more than a hundred nations worldwide. In Connecticut, he has half-hour shows starting early in the morning which run until 9:30 AM on different channels. His message is always an important and positive one with no gloom and doom, no hell and damnation. Joel tells you how to deal with important issues in your life. Joel always delivers a message to help you cope with emotional issues and create the right attitude to live your life. I hear him mention happiness in almost every "sermon." Joel said, "To develop a habit of happiness, you must retrain those negative responses."
I have found people of all faiths, not just Christians, listen to Joel to hear his positive messages. In all the years I have seen Joel on TV, his basic format is the same. He always starts the program by telling a joke. The congregation remains standing for the joke and then Joel leads them in a 21-second bible vow. He never asks for money on the air. After delivering an inspiring and motivating talk he closes the broadcast with a 7-second prayer. Joel said, "Make a decision that you are going to live your life happily."
Joel is 42 years old and is doing an outstanding job of teaching people in the world to practice responsibility by practicing emotional control. Joel is showing us joy, peace, love and happiness in every message he gives. In an interview at Beliefnet.com, Laura Sheahen asked Joel: How does God want us to live our lives? Joel's answer was: "He want us to live our lives happy"
Joel said, "God does not want you to sacrifice your happiness to keep somebody else happy. At first brush, that may sound a little selfish, but there's a tenuous balance here. Your first priority is to take care of yourself. To do so, you must recognize that some people are still not going to be happy no matter what you do for them, no matter how nice you are, no matter how much time and energy you give them. They have their own issues with which to deal or things inside that they need to resolve."
All the quotes in this article are from Joel's new book. I recommend that you read Become a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day. The 7 keys are 1. Keep pressing forward. 2. Be positive toward yourself. 3. Develop better relationships. 4. Form better habits. 5. Embrace the place where you are. 6. Develop your inner life. 7. Stay passionate about life.
Joel says, "Friend, life is too short to go through it being controlled and manipulated by people who refuse to make good choices on their own. Please understand: You are not responsible for everybody else's happiness. You are responsible for your own happiness. If people are controlling you, it's not their fault; it's your fault. You must learn to set some boundaries."
Lionel Ketchian is the founder of the Happiness Club and can be reached at PrintLRK@aol.com. The website is www.HappinessClub.com.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See what's new at AOL.com and Make AOL Your Homepage.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Do Great Things!
June 13, 2007
BE HAPPY ZONE
By Lionel Ketchian
We can do nothing better than make a positive difference in the world. To do great things, just think about what needs to be done in order to leave this world better than you found it. Each of us has different thoughts on what that is and when we do it with happiness, we empower ourselves to accomplish great things.
A group of teenagers from the Happy Club of Stamford, CT conceived and coordinated a Memorial Garden in Fort Stamford. It was a beautiful day on Tuesday, June 5 as many people gathered to dedicate this project. The mayor of Stamford, Dannel Malloy gave a wonderful speech dedicating the garden and acknowledging the Teenagers who made a positive difference by working together to create this project. The event was broadcast on television and the press interviewed the teen leaders for the wonderful work they had accomplished.
Trees were planted; red, white and blue flowers surrounded a bronze plaque commemorating our soldiers who gave their lives in Iraq. The local veterans groups, a Marine Corps color guard, the boy scouts and the garden club were in attendance.
In the six months that the Happy Club for teens has been in existence, it has completed eight projects that serve others. Some of these projects included collecting goods for the local food bank, interacting with senior citizens in an assisted living center, making and serving lunch to recovering drug addicts and people with mental illness, selling baked goods and other items to benefit an animal care facility and helping to set up for the March of Dimes Walk-a-Thon.
Kasey Glass and Sami Stone are two of the teens that started this Happy Club with the assistance of Dr. Cynthia Barnett. The club has 35 high school aged youths from Connecticut, New York and New Jersey representing over 15 schools. I spoke to a few of the teens and asked them how they felt about serving others. They all agreed that it was the greatest feeling they could imagine.
I congratulate the wonderful teen members of our Happy Club. Our teens are a shining example for people of all ages. Volunteering their time and their efforts both physically and mentally, provides people with a good example of being happy and serving others. The members of the teen Happy Club have become role models for people much older than they are. Our youth is showing everyone how to be happy and spread that good feeling to others by serving people using happiness as a power tool.
The Happy Club teens are a great testament to our future leaders in this wonderful county called the United States of America and to the entire world. These teens are the leaders of a happy future for all of us. They are doing the most important work any human being can do. They are making a positive difference in their own lives and in the lives of everyone they touch.
If there is something that you feel needs to be done, than do it using the power of happiness. You might be telling yourself that you are only one person, what can I do? If you don't give up on your ideas, you can make a positive difference in this world by acting on what you want to see accomplished. If you just begin, events and people will come along to assist you in your efforts. Do nothing and nothing changes. It is time for you to make a positive difference. Do something big or something small, it does not matter at all, as long as you do something.
Getting out of yourself and thinking of others and the world around you is the best way to find freedom for your soul and to experience enduring happiness. The happiness these teens have found is an everlasting happiness. Nothing will be able to take that feeling away from them. They are learning early in life that making a positive difference is the best thing they can do for themselves.
2,911 yeas ago, a man named Aristotle was born who stated these true words: "All men seek one goal: success or happiness. The only way to achieve true success is to express yourself completely in service to society."
At a Hospice recognition dinner, I heard a volunteer say: "I serve because it makes me feel happy." That was her whole speech. She accepted her award and sat down. A woman I was speaking to after a Happiness Club meeting told me she became happy after following what I had said at a meeting a few years ago. She told me that I said, if you are unhappy help someone else and you will find happiness. She said that she followed that advice and is now a volunteer and life has changed for the better.
Why serve others? It will make you feel fantastic! Do Great Things! Make your dreams come true and make a positive difference in your life. Everyone will benefit from you! If not you, who? If not now, when? Do it Now!
Lionel Ketchian is the founder of the Happiness Club and can be reached at PrintLRK@aol.com. The website is www.HappinessClub.com.
BE HAPPY ZONE
By Lionel Ketchian
We can do nothing better than make a positive difference in the world. To do great things, just think about what needs to be done in order to leave this world better than you found it. Each of us has different thoughts on what that is and when we do it with happiness, we empower ourselves to accomplish great things.
A group of teenagers from the Happy Club of Stamford, CT conceived and coordinated a Memorial Garden in Fort Stamford. It was a beautiful day on Tuesday, June 5 as many people gathered to dedicate this project. The mayor of Stamford, Dannel Malloy gave a wonderful speech dedicating the garden and acknowledging the Teenagers who made a positive difference by working together to create this project. The event was broadcast on television and the press interviewed the teen leaders for the wonderful work they had accomplished.
Trees were planted; red, white and blue flowers surrounded a bronze plaque commemorating our soldiers who gave their lives in Iraq. The local veterans groups, a Marine Corps color guard, the boy scouts and the garden club were in attendance.
In the six months that the Happy Club for teens has been in existence, it has completed eight projects that serve others. Some of these projects included collecting goods for the local food bank, interacting with senior citizens in an assisted living center, making and serving lunch to recovering drug addicts and people with mental illness, selling baked goods and other items to benefit an animal care facility and helping to set up for the March of Dimes Walk-a-Thon.
Kasey Glass and Sami Stone are two of the teens that started this Happy Club with the assistance of Dr. Cynthia Barnett. The club has 35 high school aged youths from Connecticut, New York and New Jersey representing over 15 schools. I spoke to a few of the teens and asked them how they felt about serving others. They all agreed that it was the greatest feeling they could imagine.
I congratulate the wonderful teen members of our Happy Club. Our teens are a shining example for people of all ages. Volunteering their time and their efforts both physically and mentally, provides people with a good example of being happy and serving others. The members of the teen Happy Club have become role models for people much older than they are. Our youth is showing everyone how to be happy and spread that good feeling to others by serving people using happiness as a power tool.
The Happy Club teens are a great testament to our future leaders in this wonderful county called the United States of America and to the entire world. These teens are the leaders of a happy future for all of us. They are doing the most important work any human being can do. They are making a positive difference in their own lives and in the lives of everyone they touch.
If there is something that you feel needs to be done, than do it using the power of happiness. You might be telling yourself that you are only one person, what can I do? If you don't give up on your ideas, you can make a positive difference in this world by acting on what you want to see accomplished. If you just begin, events and people will come along to assist you in your efforts. Do nothing and nothing changes. It is time for you to make a positive difference. Do something big or something small, it does not matter at all, as long as you do something.
Getting out of yourself and thinking of others and the world around you is the best way to find freedom for your soul and to experience enduring happiness. The happiness these teens have found is an everlasting happiness. Nothing will be able to take that feeling away from them. They are learning early in life that making a positive difference is the best thing they can do for themselves.
2,911 yeas ago, a man named Aristotle was born who stated these true words: "All men seek one goal: success or happiness. The only way to achieve true success is to express yourself completely in service to society."
At a Hospice recognition dinner, I heard a volunteer say: "I serve because it makes me feel happy." That was her whole speech. She accepted her award and sat down. A woman I was speaking to after a Happiness Club meeting told me she became happy after following what I had said at a meeting a few years ago. She told me that I said, if you are unhappy help someone else and you will find happiness. She said that she followed that advice and is now a volunteer and life has changed for the better.
Why serve others? It will make you feel fantastic! Do Great Things! Make your dreams come true and make a positive difference in your life. Everyone will benefit from you! If not you, who? If not now, when? Do it Now!
Lionel Ketchian is the founder of the Happiness Club and can be reached at PrintLRK@aol.com. The website is www.HappinessClub.com.
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