Positivity Newsletter Volume 1 - Issue 1

1. positivity
April
2017
Positive Thinkers Club of Addis Ababa was Founded on June 21, 2015.
Introducing Positive Thinking.Rajendra Singh [Founder]
Trip to BornFree
The January 29th Positive Thinkers Club
Session was unlike the others.
World meet Positive Thinkers,
Positive Thinkers Meet the World.
The idea of forming a club where people
can discuss about positive attitude and
the question of how to develop the
positive attitude of the people in general
have always ran in my mind. Ultimately I
decided to just put the idea on Facebook
and surprisingly 8-9 people responded and
seconded the idea. One of them suggested
to meet up in a small tea room in Wollo
Sefer. We agreed to meet at 2:30 PM on
June 21, 2015. I will never forget that day
for two reasons. First, It was raining cats
and dogs and second, the tea room didn’t
have a proper roofing and walls. Still all
the people came and we started the club
with 7 members present.
[Rajendra Singh, Kidus Marcos, Mekdela
Mekuria, Dr. Alemnesh, Etsihiwot Tedla,
Biniyam Asefa, Filmon Tigabu]
Our second meeting was in Kaleb Hotel
and we created a core group and prepared
Mission, Objective and Ethics of the Club.
Slowly the number of members started
growing and we started having presenta-
tions, thought of the day
and many other indoor
and outdoor activities.
Currently we have around
380 registered club
members, about 29,000
social media population
and we’ve organized 47
indoor sessions, an an-
niversary session and a
couple of outdoor sessions.
We hold the positive thinkers sessions
every other Sundays at Kaleb Hotel and
these sessions are open for the public.
Mission Statement:
To create and foster positivity among the
people for achieving their goals and help
others to achieve theirs
too.
Objectives:
To promote the principles
of positive attitude.
To take an active inter-
est in the civic, cultural,
social and moral welfare
of the community...
02 KintsuN...
Semira Hassen
Kintsunokoroi!
03 BALANCE
Fassil Abate
Life Balance…
08 Alchemist
DiAlchemist
Soul Alchemist!
B+
Live Positive
47 29,035 380Number of Positive
Thinkers Sessions till date.
Volume 01, Issue 01
Social media
(Facebook) population.
Number of Registered Positive
Thinkers Club Members.

2. How Positive Thinking Changes Your Life.By James Clear [Submission Rajendra Singh]
Have you got an interesting story to tell, you can also write to us at positivethinkersaa@gmail.com
09 23
Mission Statement:
To create and foster positivity among the
people for achieving their goals and help
others to achieve theirs too.
Objectives:
• To create and foster a spirit of positive
thinking among the people
• To promote the principle of positive
attitude.
can provide value in other areas of your
life.
As we discussed earlier, negative emotions
do the opposite. Why? Because building
These skills last much longer than the emo-
tions that initiated them. Years later, that
foundation of athletic movement might de-
velop into a scholarship as a college athlete
or the communication skills may blossom
into a job offer as a business manager. The
happiness that promoted the exploration and
creation of new skills has long since ended,
but the skills themselves live on.
Fredrickson refers to this as the “broaden
and build” theory because positive emo-
tions broaden your sense of possibilities
and open your mind, which in turn allows
you to build new skills and resources that
Kintsunokoroi...By Semira Hassen
Life is hard, life is complicated, it hits you like
a tornado at times, it gives you anger, frustra-
tion and it lets you commit mistakes and it
leaves you all alone by yourself when you fail.
Kintsukoroi is a Japanese term meaning “to
repair with gold”. It’s the art of repairing pot-
tery with gold/silver lacquer and understand-
ing that the piece became more beautiful for
having been broken.
The story is traced back to the 16th cen-
tury in Ancient Japan, it’s a story of a bowl
which was much loved by a military ruler
and one day during a gathering, a servant
dropped the bowl and it was broken into
five pieces. Everyone was scared because
the military ruler was known for his quick
temper, but instead he insisted that the
...How Positive Thinking
Have you got an interesting story to tell, you can also write to us at positivethinkersaa@gmail.com
bowl be repaired with gold and said that
the true life of the bowl began the mo-
ment it was dropped.
So we said all those negative traits about
life earlier. But then again life is beautiful,
Even if it knocks us down it helps us to
stand back on our feet. Even if it lets us
commit mistakes, it gives us the chance to
explore everything there is in this world
and helps us to discover and understand
ourselves. Even if it gives us frustration
at times life is phenomenal and it’s full
of love, love for ourselves, family, friends,
spouse, and everything else. We all had it
tough and rough but we are here today
more beautiful and stronger than yes-
terday being repaired with gold, shining
bring like a diamond…. Life is worth living.
skills for future use is irrelevant when
there is immediate threat or danger (like
the tiger on the path).
All of this research begs the most impor-
tant question of all: if positive thinking
is so useful for developing valuable skills
and appreciating the Big Picture of life,
how do you actually get yourself to be
positive
---Continues on page 7
Positive Thinking is much more than just
being happy or displaying an upbeat attitude
Negative emotions narrow your
mind and focus your thoughts.
Positive emotions broaden your sense of possibilities.
Positive emotions enhance the ability to build
skills and develop resources for use later in life.
Positive thinking sounds useful on the surface. (Most of us would prefer to be positive rather than negative.) But,“positive thinking” is also a soft and fluffy
term that is easy to dismiss. In the real world, it rarely carries the same weight as words like “work ethic” or “persistence.”
Research is beginning to reveal that positive thinking is about much more than just being happy or displaying an upbeat attitude. Positive thoughts can
actually create real value in your life and help you build skills that last much longer than a smile. Barbara Fredrickson is a positive psychology researcher
at the University of North Carolina and she published a landmark paper that provides surprising insights about positive thinking and it’s impact on your
skills. Her work is among the most referenced and cited in her field and it is surprisingly useful in everyday life. Let’s talk about Fredrickson’s discovery and
what it means for you…
What Negative Thoughts Do to Your Brain
Let’s say that you’re walking through the forest and suddenly a tiger steps onto the path ahead of you. When this happens, your brain registers a negative emotion —
in this case, fear. When that tiger crosses your path, for example, you run. The rest of the world doesn’t matter. You are focused entirely on the tiger, the fear it creates,
and how you can get away from it. In other words, negative emotions narrow your mind and focus your thoughts. At that same moment, you might have the option to
climb a tree, pick up a leaf, or grab a stick — but your brain ignores all of those options because they seem irrelevant when a tiger is standing in front of you.
This is a useful instinct if you’re trying to save life and limb, but in our modern society we don’t have to worry about stumbling across tigers in the wilderness. The
problem is that your brain is still programmed to respond to negative emotions in the same way — by shutting off the outside world and limiting the options you see
around you.
For example, when you’re in a fight with someone, your anger and emotion might consume you to the point where you can’t think about anything else. Or, when you
are stressed out about everything you have to get done today, you may find it hard to actually start anything because you’re paralysed by how long your to–do list
has become. Or, if you feel bad about not exercising or not eating healthy, all you think about is how little willpower you have, how you’re lazy, and how you don’t
have any motivation.
In each case, your brain closes off from the outside world and focuses on the negative emo-
tions of fear, anger, and stress — just like it did with the tiger. Negative emotions prevent your
brain from seeing the other options and choices that surround you. It’s your survival instinct.
Now, let’s compare this to what positive emotions do to your brain. This is where Barbara Fredrickson returns to the story.
What Positive Thoughts Do to Your Brain
When you are experiencing positive emotions like joy, contentment, and love, you will see more possibilities in your life. These findings were among the first that
proved that positive emotions broaden your sense of possibility and open your mind up to more options. But that was just the beginning. The really interesting
impact of positive thinking happens later. The benefits of positive emotions don’t stop after a few minutes of good feelings subside. In fact, the biggest benefit that
positive emotions provide is an enhanced ability to build skills and develop resources for use later in life.
Let’s consider a real–world example. A child who runs around outside, swinging on branches and playing with friends, develops the ability to move athletically
(physical skills), the ability to play with others and communicate with a team (social skills), and the ability to explore and examine the world around them (creative
skills). In this way, the positive emotions of play and joy prompt the child to build skills that are useful and valuable in everyday life.
---Continues on page 3
Apr
32

3. Objectives:
• To take an active interest in the civic,
cultural, social and moral welfare of the
community.
Our Deepest Fear...
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is
that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our dark-
ness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be bril-
liant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God. Your playing small does
not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened
about shrinking so that other people won’t feel
insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as
children do. We were born to make manifest the
glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some
of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own
light shine, we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same. As we are liberated
from our own fear, our presence automatically
liberates others.
Marianne Williamson
Welcome
ThinkPosi+ive!Session Format
Positive Thinkers
Club of A.A
Sundays
03:00 Session Starts
03:05 Toast to Positivity
03:10 Self Introduction
03:20 Thought of the Day
03:30 Main Topic (Presentation,
Activity, Demonstration...)
04:00 Networking Break
04:10 Discussion on Main Topic
04:45 Personal Experiences
05:00 AOB
05:30 Toast to Ethiopia
Objectives:
• To provide a forum for the open dis-
cussion on the ways to eliminate negative
attitude and negative emotions such as
fear, anger, hate etc.
What is humour?
Humour means the state or action of being
comic or funny. It originally comes from
the idea of the ‘four humours’ in early
medicine: i.e. The idea that human emo-
tions are governed by four different bodily
substances or humours. This indicates
that humour can appeal to humans on an
emotional level.
Hope Is The Thing
With Feathers
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
Emily Dickinson
5 LIFE LESSONS FROM DR. SEUSS
The man we all knew as Dr. Seuss, children’s author of Green
Eggs and Ham and other classics, has at least 5 important life
lessons that he passed on to us through his cherished books.
Fall Forward
Fall forward. Here’s what I mean:
Reggie Jackson struck out twenty-six-
hundred times in his career; the most in
the history of baseball. But you don’t hear
about the strikeouts. People remember the
home runs. Fall forward.
Thomas Edison conducted 1,000 failed
experiments. Did you know that? I didn’t
know that—because #1,001 was the light
bulb. Fall forward.
Every failed experiment is one step closer
to success.
Denzel Washington: “Fall Forward” (2011)
Objectives:
• To encourage the people to get rid
of the negative emotions and help them
to bring out their hidden skills, develop
self-confidence and improve their overall
personality.
Objectives:
• To encourage the people to achieve
their goals and be successful in their
endeavours.
1. BE YOURSELF
‘Today you are You, that is truer than
true. There is no one alive who is Youer
than You.’
2. MAKE THE WORLD BETTER
‘Unless someone like you cares a whole
awful lot, Nothing is going to get better.
It’s not.’
3. BE LIKE A CHILD AND NEVER STOP
LEARNING
‘The more that you read, the more
things you will know. The more that you
learn, the more places you’ll go.’
4. IT’S ABOUT
BALANCE
‘So be sure when you step, Step with
care and great tact.
And remember that life’s A Great Bal-
ancing Act.
5. BE POSITIVE
‘Don’t cry because it’s over, smile be-
cause it happened.’
Read the whole Article on
Power of Positivity website.
Dear Readers,
Welcome to the Positive Thinkers Club of
Addis Ababa peer reviewed, open access
and monthly electronic newsletter (PNL) in
English for the fostering positivity, positive
attitude and positive life style.The aim of
the PNL is to provide a portable, accessible
and energy boosting source of positivity in
addition to the bimonthly sessions.And more, this newsletter would
be a way to spread the news about the club and its vision of seeing
a happier society.
Editorial Committee
May Jun
07 21 04 18
4 5

4. Find a MentorBy Brett H. McKay [Submission Mesay Shemsu]
Figuring out what it means to be a man can be tough.And it’s arguably tougher for men today, who are often more socially
isolated, don’t have as many friends, and don’t have strong relationships with their fathers and other male relatives. It’s therefore
more important than ever for every man to seek out mentors to help him navigate the complicated waters of manliness and life.
Mentors have the experience and wisdom to give us sound guidance, direction, and advice. Mentors can also help us expand our
point of view on a particular area of our life. Moreover, a mentor can become a good friend and confidant during times when we
struggle and falter. So having a mentor is quite important. The tricky part is, how do you find one? Here’s a suggested road map.
How to Find a Mentor
1. Determine what sort of mentor you’re looking for. We all have different facets of our lives. Work, school, spirituality, family, etc.
Ask yourself what area of your life needs improvement and could benefit from a mentor. And it doesn’t have to be a specific area of your life like career or
church. Perhaps you’re just looking for a mentor to help you be an all-around better man. That’s fine.
2. Draw up a list of three men that you’d like to mentor you. Think of all the men you know that might be able to help you in the area that you’re looking
for some mentoring in. Guys that you’ve always looked up to or admired and wish you had a better relationship with. If you’re looking for a mentor to help
you in your career, look around at the men you know at work that have been in the game awhile and know the ropes. If you’re a student, you might want to
pick a professor that really inspires you academically. If you’re looking for a mentor to help you be an overall better man, simply think of the men you know
and admire. While we often think of a mentor as being older than us, a mentor can be a guy the same age as you, who just has his life together a bit more
or who lives his life in a way you really admire. Also, don’t stick with men that are exactly like you. One of the benefits of a mentor is that they can help
expand your point of view.
3. Write down how each mentor could help you grow as a man. Think of the traits each man has that you wish to learn. Do some research on them. Do they
come from a similar background as you? Do they have unique experiences that can broaden your conception and understanding of success in a particular
area of your life? Have they had any setbacks similar to yours? What is it exactly about this person that makes you want him to be your mentor? This will
come in handy when you finally get around to asking.
4. Figure out what you expect from the mentor relationship. Before you ask someone to be your mentor, you need to know what he should expect from the
relationship. How often would you like to meet with him? Once a week? Once a month? How do you want the mentoring to take place? A discussion over
lunch? Email? A monthly phone call? When you’re deciding this, take into account the men you’re asking to be your mentor and what will work for them. If
you know one man is particularly busy, you wouldn’t want to ask that he meet with you once a week.
5. Ask the first man on your list. After you’ve done all your prep work, it’s time to ask. Whether you call, email, or a write a letter to do the asking will
depend on each person. Some older men might be “old school” and prefer a phone call or letter over email. If they’re younger and a bit tech savvy, email is
just fine. Tell your prospective mentor that you’re looking for a mentor in “x” area of your life and that you think he’d be a good one. Explain why you think
he’d be a good mentor by sharing some of the positive traits about him that you wrote down. People love to be praised! If you get some positive feedback
from your prospective mentor about the relationship, go on and start discussing logistics. Explain what you’re hoping to get out of the mentorship and
get an idea of what he’d like to get out of it as well. Synchronize schedules and how you two plan to carry out the mentorship. The clearer you are at the
beginning, the less likely for awkward moments down the line. If asking someone so directly to be your mentor makes you feel awkward (or you think it
might make them feel uncomfortable) then just ask the man to have lunch or hang out some time. Start dropping by the professor’s office or your co-work-
er’s cubicle for chats. And the relationship will hopefully develop naturally from there.
6. Expect rejection. Don’t’ get discouraged and don’t take it personally if people say no. People are busy these days, and they just might not have time to be
a mentor. If the first man says no, go on to the second.
7. Say“thank you.” No matter if you get a no or a yes, be sure to thank the person. Now, it might not be possible to find a mentor in just one day, but let’s at
least get started on it.
30 Days to a Better Man
Copyright 2014 © by Brett H. McKay
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30
Code of Ethics:
• To show my faith in the worthiness of
my vocation.
• To seek success and to demand fare
remuneration or profit as my just due.
Code of Ethics:
• To remember that moving towards
my goal, it is not necessary to push down
others, and to be loyal to my customers or
clients and true to myself.
those who do not. As expected, people
who meditated also built valuable long-
term skills.
2. Writing — this study, published in
the Journal of Research in Personality,
examined a group of 90 undergraduate
students who were split into two groups.
The first group wrote about an intensely
positive experience each day for three
consecutive days. The second group wrote
about a control topic. Three months later,
the students who wrote about positive
experiences had better mood levels, fewer
visits to the health centre, and experienced
fewer illnesses.
What you can do to increase positive emo-
tions and take advantage of the “broaden
and build” theory in your life?
Well, anything that sparks feelings of joy,
contentment, and love will do the trick.
You probably know what things work
well for you. Maybe it’s playing the guitar.
Maybe it’s spending time with a certain
person. Maybe it’s carving tiny wooden
lawn gnomes. That said, here are three
ideas for you to consider…
1. Meditation/Prayer — A recent research
has revealed that people who meditate
daily display more positive emotions than
BALANCE OUR LIFEBy Fasil Abate
We, human beings, want to increase our
capacity to produce and handle the chal-
lenges around us.And we usually encounter
situations as the body becomes weak, the
mind mechanical, the emotions raw, the
spirit insensitive, and be selfish. Not a pretty
picture, is it?
Changing this ugly Picture, feeling good and
satisfied in life will not just happen! It needs
us do a little favour to ourselves, i.e. BAL-
ANCE OUR LIFE!
It means having a balanced program for
self-renewal in the four dimensions of your
life: physical, social/emotional, mental, and
spiritual. These dimensions are not sophis-
ticated as may be perceived by many. They
could mean like below for me for instance:
Physical: Beneficial eating and drinking,
exercising, and resting
Social/Emotional: Making social and mean-
ingful connections with others
Mental: Learning, reading, writing,
and teaching
Spiritual: Spending time in nature, expanding
spiritual self through meditation, music, art,
prayer, or service
Living a life in balance means taking the
necessary time to renew yourself. You can
...How to Increase Positive Thinking in Your Life
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3. Play — schedule time to play into your
life. We schedule meetings, conference
calls, weekly events, and other responsi-
bilities into our daily calendars … why not
schedule time to play?
When was the last time you intentionally
carved out time to have fun? You can’t tell
me that being happy is less important than
your Wednesday meeting?
Give yourself permission to smile and
schedule time for play and adventure so
that you can experience contentment and
joy, and explore and build new skills.
renew yourself through relaxation. Or you
can totally burn yourself out by overdoing
everything. You can pamper yourself mentally
and spiritually. Or you can go through life
oblivious to your well-being. You can experi-
ence vibrant energy. Or you can procrastinate
and miss out on the benefits of good health
and exercise. You can revitalize yourself and
face a new day in peace and harmony. Or you
can wake up in the morning full of apathy
because your get-up-and-go has got-up-and-
gone. Just remember that every day provides
a new opportunity for renewal--a new oppor-
tunity to recharge yourself instead of hitting
the wall. All it takes is the will and desire of
proper self-love. It’s all up to you! B+!
Jul
76 7

5. 05 17
Code of Ethics:
• To understand that communication is
not enough, connection is needed.
Code of Ethics:
• To be sure that praises cost nothing
and criticism has to be constructive.
Alchemists were historical protoscientists
who could turn base metals into gold.
When we find love we act like kids, liter-
ally. We find someone who gives us all of
themselves without second guesses and
that power makes us think we rule the
world, makes us think we are on top of the
world. And rather than being grateful for the
miraculously found romance, we start to think
it happened because of us, because of who
we are and what we’ve done. We think it’s be-
cause of our wit and not by their will that the
other person gave into us. And this thought
of delusional smartness makes us believe
that we are more superior than them and
like all superior beings we take that given
Finding ways to build happiness and posi-
tive emotions into your life — whether it
is through meditation, writing, playing a
pickup basketball game, or anything else
— provides more than just a momentary
decrease in stress and a few smiles.
Periods of positive emotion and unhin-
dered exploration are when you see the
possibilities for how your past experiences
fit into your future life, when you begin to
develop skills that blossom into use”
Best Regards
Rajendra Singh
Founder
Club President
0911 209569
Fasil Abate
Club Admin
0911 631843
bezawit tesfaye
Club Assistant
0944 053361
Dagmawi Bedilu,
PTNL Editorial
0911 342533
Biruk Yosef,
PTNL Editorial
0911 728209
Mesay Shemsu,
PTNL Editorial
0913 683315
Positive thinking isn’t just a soft and fluffy
feel–good term. Yes, it’s great to simply “be
happy,” but those moments of happiness
are also critical for opening your mind to
explore and build the skills that become
so valuable in other areas of your life.
Alchemists of the Soul…By Dialchemist
power and start misusing it. We start to tweak
with our beloved’s emotions, we test them,
we examine how they would react to things,
we put on our lab coats and put them under
our microscope and enjoy the manipulation
while being blind to the truth. We play games
with their minds, we truly act like a kid that
became aware of his lying abilities or a teen
that came conscious of his rebellion nature.
We fall short of wisdom and just become...
Smart. Too smart for our own good. Our ego
gets ahead of us and we take the power that
was “given” to us for granted. But we could
have done better, much much better, way way
better.
We could have became alchemists of the
soul. When someone gives their complete
self to us we could have done what God has
done to us. We could have taken that clay
soul moulded it in our hands, breath love
into it and turn it into gold. We could have
harvested greatness from our beloved’s soul.
We could have pushed them towards their
destiny and made them... complete. We don’t
complete them but more like help them to
complete themselves and in the process fulfil
our destiny and become complete ourselves.
Fulfil the ultimate destiny... greatness, good-
ness... godliness. We could have discovered
God within ourselves.
And through the souls we made beautiful,
We could have become beautiful ourselves.
And through the souls we made godly,
We could have become gods ourselves.
But…
Where to Go From Here Useful
Numbers
Follow us on Facebook Positive thinkers
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FromDIALCHEMIST’SSCRIPTS
https://dialchemist.wordpress.com/
jul
8