Positivity Newsletter Volume 1 - Issue 3

1. positivity
June
2017
Positive Thinkers Club of Addis Ababa was Founded on June 21, 2015.
Ethiopia and Happiness.R. Veenhoven
Celebrating 2 Years
On 25th of June 2017,An out-of-town,
2 days extravaganza is planned for the
celebration of PTC’s 2nd anniversary.
Registered Yet?
The poor and the powerless are much
happier than the rich and the powerful.
Happiness, an emotional trait, which drives
individuals to do great things, or the
pursuit of which ultimately drives other
individuals to the brink of insanity. Happi-
ness can come from within an individual,
and it can even be due to outside external
factors which makes the individual feel
happy and ecstatic. Thirdly, happiness can
be faked to the point where it actually
does become real genuine happiness.
So what exactly is the point of talking
about happiness, and how it relates to
other nations and cultures such as Ethio-
pia? As humans, we all tend to strive to be
happy. Humans mess up, make mistakes,
and are nervous about repeating negative
actions in such a
way that is actually
detrimental to emo-
tional health. The
reason we ruminate
is so that we learn
how to not repeat
anything nega-
tive again, and this
detracts from our own happiness, because
individuals eventually become focused on
what they should not do, rather than what
they can do to make the most of any sort
of situation.
According to Randy Larsen PhD. in a
longitudinal research, happiness is linked
to higher job satisfaction, healthier social
relationships, a stronger functioning
immune system, higher physical health,
higher levels of altruism,
and higher levels of self
esteem.
What does this all mean
in a place like Ethiopia?
If we base this all in
numbers and statistics,
Ethiopia is one of the
lower ranking countries when it comes to
happiness. When looking at happiness be-
tween nations, Ethiopia scored 4.2 out of
10 on a scale used in a study by Erasmus
University Rotterdam. On a 100 point scale,
Ethiopia was at a reported 33 out of 100.
Furthermore according to the World Hap-
piness Report, Ethiopia is ranked at 0.732
in 2013.
---Continues on page 7
03 The 7 HABITS
Bronnie Ware
05 Desiderata
Max Ehrmann
08 ...in a jar
DiAlchemist
B+
Live Positive
51 30,673 380Number of Positive
Thinkers Sessions till date.
Volume 01, Issue 03
Theme - Happiness
Social media
(Facebook) population.
Number of Registered Positive
Thinkers Club Members.

2. The first World Happiness Report was published in April, 2012, in support of the UN High Level Meeting on happiness and well-being. Since then the
world has come a long way. Increasingly, happiness is considered to be the proper measure of social progress and the goal of public policy. In June 2016
the OECD committed itself “to redefine the growth narrative to put people’s well-being at the center of governments’ efforts”. In February 2017, the
United Arab Emirates held a full-day World Happiness meeting, as part of the World Government Summit. Now on World Happiness Day, March 20th, we
launch the World Happiness Report 2017, once again back at the United Nations, again published by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network,
and now supported by a generous three-year grant from the Ernesto Illy Foundation. Some highlights are as follows.
Norway has jumped from 4th place in 2016 to 1st place this year, followed by Denmark, Iceland and Switzerland in a tightly packed bunch. All of the top
four countries rank highly on all the main factors found to support happiness: caring, freedom, generosity, honesty, health, income and good governance.
Their averages are so close that small changes can re-order the rankings from year to year. Norway moves to the top of the ranking despite weaker
oil prices. It is sometimes said that Norway achieves and maintains its high happiness not because of its oil wealth, but in spite of it. By choosing to
produce its oil slowly, and investing the proceeds for the future rather than spending them in the present, Norway has insulated itself from the boom
and bust cycle of many other resource-rich economies. To do this successfully requires high levels of mutual trust, shared purpose, generosity and good
governance, all factors that help to keep Norway and other top countries where they are in the happiness rankings.
All of the other countries in the top ten also have high values in all six of the key variables used to explain happiness differences among countries and
through time – income, healthy life expectancy, having someone to count on in times of trouble, generosity, freedom and trust, with the latter measured
by the absence of corruption in business and government. Here too there has been some shuffling of ranks among closely grouped countries, with this
year’s rankings placing Finland in 5th place, followed by the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia and Sweden tied for the 9th position, hav-
ing the same 2014-2016 score to three decimals.
This year’s report emphasizes the importance of the social foundations of happiness. This can be seen by comparing the life experiences between the
top and bottom ten countries in this year’s happiness rankings. There is a four-point happiness gap between the two groups of countries, of which
three-quarters is explained by the six variables, half due to differences in having someone to count on, generosity, a sense of freedom, and freedom from
corruption. The other half of the explained difference is attributed to GDP per capita and healthy life expectancy, both of which, as the report explains,
also depend importantly on the social context.
However 80% of the variance of happiness across the world occurs within countries. In richer countries the within-country differences are not mainly
explained by income inequality, but by differences in mental health, physical health and personal relationships: the biggest single source of misery is
mental illness. Income differences matter more in poorer countries, but even their mental illness is a major source of misery.
Work is also a major factor affecting happiness. Unemployment causes a major fall in happiness, and even for those in work the quality of work can
cause major variations in happiness.
People in China are no happier than 25 years ago. Our China chapter contrasts the sharply growing per capita income in China over the past 25 years
with life evaluations that fell steadily from 1990 till about 2005, recovering since then to about the 1990 levels. They attribute the dropping happiness
in the first part of the period to rising unemployment and fraying social safety nets, with recoveries since in both.
Much of Africa is struggling. The Africa chapter tells a much more diverse story, as fits the African reality with its great number and vast range of experi-
ences. But these are often marked by delayed and disappointed hopes for happier lives.
Happiness has fallen in America The USA is a story of reduced happiness. In 2007 the USA ranked 3rd among the OECD countries; in 2016 it came 19th.
The reasons are declining social support and increased corruption and it is these same factors that explain why the Nordic countries do so much better.
Source: http://worldhappiness.report/ed/2017/
You can also find the full report here: http://worldhappiness.report/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/HR17.pdf
World Happiness Report 2017
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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.
express genuine interest in what people say,
and respond in encouraging ways, is a power-
ful way to enrich relationships and cultivate
positive emotions.
Flow
Find your flow. If we are deeply involved in
Recently we have seen a dramatic upsurge in
scientific studies on Positive Psychology. Lets
review the most frequently mentioned ways
of thinking and acting that were found in
these scientific studies.
Relationships
Express your heart. People who have one or
more close friendships are happier. It doesn’t
seem to matter if we have a large network
of close relationships or not. What seems
to make a difference is if and how often we
cooperate in activities and share our personal
feelings with a friend or relative.“Active-con-
structive responding,” which is the ability to
Work & HappinessBy Nataly Kogan
“If you think you have to love your job to be
happy at work, think again.”
Most people I meet assume that if anyone on
the planet is happy at work, I am. Their as-
sumption is easy to understand: I co-founded
and run a company called Happier. I make a
living by helping other people find more joy
in their lives. I must feel happy all the time!
But: I don’t. Being an entrepreneur is the
absolute hardest thing I’ve done profession-
ally. Every day is a psychological battle to
not let the overwhelming stress, long hours,
uncertainty and emotional rollercoaster of be-
ing part of a start-up beat me down. Which
means that to be happier at work, I’ve had to
become intentional about it. Being happier is
something you have to work on. It’s a skill that
takes practice. And there are things you can
do to help you learn how to be happy at work.
Start the day on a good note
How you feel in the morning affects how you
feel at work for the whole day.So do something
in the morning that makes you feel good.
Make fewer decisions
Decision fatigue is real: each decision you
The Seven Habits of Happy People
Bronnie Ware
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make depletes your cognitive resources. This
can quickly exhaust you and make you feel run
down. Put some parts of your day on autopilot
Help a colleague
Helping your colleagues makes you happier at
work. Put a reminder on your calendar. (And feel
free to call it something that makes you smile,
like “Time to be awesome, yo!”)
Make progress and acknowledge it
Try this: Before you start your workday, write
down three small things you will get done. Do
them.
End your workday with a gratitude pause
Try to think of something you appreciate about
your day and write it down.
https://www.happier.com/blog/5-scientifically-
proven-ways-to-be-happier-at-work
trying to reach a goal, or an activity that is
challenging but well suited to our skills, we
experience a joyful state called “flow.” Many
kinds of activities, such as sports, playing
an instrument, or teaching, can produce the
experience of flow. According to Mihaly
Csikszentmihalyi, a pioneer of the scientific
study of happiness, flow is a type of intrinsic
motivation. In his words,“you do what you’re
doing primarily because you like what you’re
doing. If you learn only for external, extrinsic
reasons, you will probably forget it as soon as
you are no longer forced to remember what
you want to do.”
--Continues on page 7
Norway tops the global happiness rankings for 2017
“Caring, Freedom, Generosity, Honesty, Health, Income and Good Governance”
Happiness is both social and personal
Apr
32

3. Marianne Williamson
Objectives:
• To take an active interest in the civic,
cultural, social and moral welfare of the
community.
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.
Happiness is...
...sarcasm.
...mom and dad.
...having a best friend.
...creating.
...”DORO WOT”.
...a perfect selfie with friends.
...loving what you do.
...travelling.
...realizing that you’re just a tiny speck on
a huge planet and that therefore you need
not take yourself too seriously.
እሳት ወይ አበባ
እና አንደኔና እንዳንቺው፥ የውበት ዓይኑን የታወረ
እግረ ሕሊናው የከረረ፥
ባሕረ-ሃሳቡን ያልታደለ
የውበት ዓይኑ የሰለለ
ሰማይ ጨለማ ነው እንጂ፥ አበባ እኮ አደለም አለ።
ያልታደለ።
ፈራን፤ አዎን ፍቅር ፈራን፥
የነፍስን አንደበት ዘጋን፥
የዕድሜ ጠብታችንን ምጥ፥ የጣር ፅንሳችንን ልሣን፥
ልጅነት የለገሠንን
በመለኮት የቀባንን
በእሳቱ ያጠመቀንን
የፍቅር አምላክ በጥበቡ፥ በሥልጣን ያላበሰንን
ፈራን አዎን እውነት ፈራን
የስሜት እስትንፋስ ነሳን።
ሎሬት ፀጋዬ ገ/መድን
How to make a Happiness Jar (4 Steps)
A happiness jar is a project inspired by Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love. It’s a simple way of reminding yourself every
day of the good that came out of your day, even if the day has been a challenge. Here are four steps you can follow to start a Hap-
piness Jar.
Happiness is...
...finally peeing when you Really need to.
...hugging a tall person.
...living for the moment.
...laughing about boy biology together.
...an unexpected piece of chocolate.
...having friends who are idiots.
...getting a message from the one you love.
...crying unapologetically.
...laughing for no reason at all.
...watching your child dance.
...saying sorry.
...watching the rain.
....discovering a great new song.
...shopping.
...achieving what seemed impossible.
...a big chaotic family get together.
...friday.
...the smell of a new book.
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. Find a clean beautiful jar with a lid.
Keep it somewhere safe and accessible. It should be in
sight to remind you to use it.
2. Every day, think of something that made
you happy and write it down on a piece of
paper.
It could be anything. Be truthful to yourself; the simpler
things that delighted you are often the happiest mo-
ments.
3. Deposit it into the happiness jar daily.
If you miss days, don’t be fussed; just pick it up from
where you left off.
4. Read the messages when life gets tough.
When you feel that everything is getting to you take out
a few of the messages and read them through. These
reminders of the happiness that has been in your life and
will continue to be present in your life will serve as a
source of morale boosting. It will remind you that happi-
ness is found in moments along the journey and is not a
single destination.
Dear Readers,
Welcome to the Positive Thinkers Club of
Addis Ababa peer reviewed, open access
and monthly electronic newsletter (PNL)
in English for 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. “Desiderata” (Latin: “desired things”) is a 1927 prose poem by American writer Max Ehrmann. Largely unknown in
the author’s lifetime, the text became widely known after its use in devotional and spoken-word recordings in 1971
and 1972. The text was widely distributed in poster form in the 1960s and 1970s. When US Democratic presidential
hopeful Adlai Stevenson died in 1965, a guest in his home found the Desiderata near his bedside and discovered that
Stevenson had planned to use it in his Christmas cards. This contributed further to the poem becoming widely known.
While in Canada, In response to his government’s losing its majority in the Canadian federal election, 1972 Prime
Minister Pierre Trudeau quoted Desiderata by reassuring the nation that “the universe is unfolding as it should.”
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be Yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be Cheerfull.
Strive to be happy.
DesiderataMax Ehrmann
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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.
influential medical review of its kind in the
world) has produced a landmark analysis of
23 studies on exercise and depression. One of
the major conclusions was that exercise had
a “large clinical impact” on depression. Many
studies are proving the ancient adage,“sound
body, sound mind,” including the recent
discovery of a “gut-brain axis,” and a possible
link between excessive sugar consumption
and depression.
Spiritual Engagement and Meaning
Discovering Meaning. Studies demonstrate
a close link between spiritual and religious
practice and happiness. Spirituality is closely
related to the discovery of greater meaning
Acts of Kindness
Cultivate kindness. People who volunteer
or simply care for others on a consist-
ent basis seem to be happier and less
depressed. Although “caring” can involve
volunteering as part of an organized group
or club, it can be as simple as reaching
out to a colleague or classmate who looks
lonely or is struggling with an issue.
Exercise and Physical Wellbeing
Keep moving and eat well. Regular exer-
cise has been associated with improved
mental well-being and a lower incidence of
depression. The Cochrane Review (the most
...Ethiopia
A report from Ezega, an Ethiopian news
website, adds on to the fact that Ethiopia is
one of the saddest countries
in the world. This might
be due to the western lens
through which Ethiopia was
observed, specifically Forbes.
Seble Tewelderbirhan states,
on a personal level, that
Ethiopians are more thank-
ful, and happy in comparison
to their Norwegian counter-
parts, who scored signifi-
cantly higher (on the Forbes
definition of happiness)
in regards to happiness.“The poor and the
powerless are much happier than the rich and
the powerful. Whether it is denial or heartfelt,
Ethiopians usually seem to be thankful for
whatever little they have and pray for only a
daily bread” (Teweldebirhan).
...Habits
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in our lives. As the psychologist Martin Selig-
man emphasizes, through the meaningful life
we discover a deeper kind of happiness,
Positive Mindset: Optimism, Mindfulness and
Gratitude
Treasure gratitude, mindfulness, and hope.
Of all the areas studied in the relatively
young field of positive psychology, gratitude
has perhaps received the most attention.
Grateful people have been shown to have
greater positive emotion, a greater sense of
belonging, and lower incidence of depression
and stress.
--Continues on page 8
As a western society, we tend to attribute our
happiness to a multitude of factors, such as
success, material possessions
and freedoms. According to
Teweldebirhan, Ethiopian
happiness does not necessar-
ily stem from the same fac-
tors that westerners attribute
their happiness to. So while
on a traditional western scale,
Ethiopia is low ranking, Ethio-
pians perceive themselves
as relatively happy for what
they have, and what they have
accomplished.
http://thomascultural.weebly.com/ethiopia-
and-happiness.html
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.
Imagine a happy society!!!
I want you to close your eyes and imagine for
a second. Imagine a society, imagine a happy
society. Imagine happy parents, happy cou-
ples, happy friends, happy business partners,
happy kids (which they already are), happy
teens (now that’s hard to imagine)…. Happy
happy happy…. It’s the ultimate fantasy right?
Now, imagine if it was possible to sell hap-
piness in jar? What would happen? How
many of us would buy it? I know some of us
are liars because I’ve seen people sell their
joy for power, fame and/or respect. Because
if there is one thing that happiness greatly
http://www.pursuit-of-happiness.org/science-
of-happiness/ 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
Strengths and Virtues
Discover and use your strengths. Studies
by experts such as Martin Seligman in the
new field of Positive Psychology show that
the happiest people are those that have
discovered their unique strengths (such
as persistence and critical thinking) and
virtues (such as humanity) and use those
strengths and virtues for a purpose that
is greater than their own personal goals
(Authentic Happiness: Using the New Posi-
tive Psychology to Realize Your Potential
for Lasting Fulfilment).
Happiness in a Jar… By Dialchemist
demands is that humility which most of us
are unwilling to experience.
They say happiness is an illusion and it’s
something to pursue rather than to claim,
there is no such thing as a happy ending. In
fact, it is said that the pursuit itself, the will-
ingness to seek happiness is what actually
makes us happy.
But how can one be truly happy? What makes
people happy? We know jokes make us laugh
but what makes us genuinely happy?
Philosophers, sociologists, psychologists,
theologies have been trying to crack this hap-
piness code for centuries. But the answer has
always been here with us, within us all along.
Different cultures give it different names. The
westerns call it The Golden Rule, the east-
erns call it Karma and science uses the Laws
of Reciprocity as it name. It goes like this
“Do unto others
as you would have them do unto you”
Seeking happiness for self will always elude
you but seeking happiness in other usually
results in you finding it in yourself. So
“Make people happy and you’ll be happy”
Now Imagine again, Imagine if I, you, we
could sell happiness in a jar… guess what
would happen???
Answer = We would all be happy ;)
From DIALCHEMIST’S SCRIPTS
https://dialchemist.wordpress.com/
...Happy People Useful
Numbers
Follow us on Facebook Positive thinkers
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jul
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