Positivity Newsletter Volume 1 - Issue 4

1. positivity
July
2017
Positive Thinkers Club of Addis Ababa was Founded on June 21, 2015.
In Love and Life, Keep a Sense of Humor.Barton Goldsmith Ph.D.
A little laugh goes a long way.
Humor in relationships is important.
Life cannot be serious all the time, and
although I know that sometimes it has
to be that way, no one can live like that
constantly. You have to make room for a
little lightheartedness if you want to have
a balanced love life. Being able to laugh is
healthy for everyone.
Humor—if used correctly—can help defuse
uncomfortable situations. A sense of
humor in a relationship has been rec-
ognized as so important that there’s an
annual conference on how to use humor
in therapy. Yes, it can make a difference in
your relationship.
Cultivating humor in your relationship
requires that you
both are respect-
ful in your banter.
This is not stand-up
comedy or razor-
sharp repartee. It is
two people playing
with words and with
each other. Keep it
harmless, blameless,
and don’t ever use
humor as a weapon.
Once you have those ground rules clear, it
will make it easier and safer to have more
fun with each other.
Humor in a relationship is not just about
saying funny things; it’s also about doing
things together with a sense of humor. I
know couples who crack each other
up so much that it can
take them hours to do the
dishes. They are having
that much fun together.
Even if you don’t think
you are especially funny,
you can approach your life
and love with a fine sense
of humor. It’s not about
making jokes that rival
the likes of Jerry Seinfeld.
It’s about seeing the lighter side of
living and revealing in it. Life can be
ironic, and that can be fun and funny.
It’s worth the effort to find the humor
in life, and appreciate your mate for his
or hers.
---Continues on page 3
03 Leading
Alison Beard
05 ይስጥሽ
በዕዉቀቱ ስዩም
06 Noah’s Ark
A Time To Laugh
B+
Live Positive
54 31,380 380Number of Positive
Thinkers Sessions till date.
Volume 01, Issue 04
Theme - Humor
Social media
(Facebook) population.
Number of Registered Positive
Thinkers Club Members.

2. You’re sick! How can you laugh at that? The next time someone says that to you, tell them humor is part of your healing process. You will be right!
Humor is a natural response to a tragedy or setback, and it develops in a predictable way. The process is the same whether the initial setback is a hor-
rible accident, a layoff, a broken heart or a national tragedy.
First there is a set back – a death, an injury, an important loss of some sort – and nothing is funny. In fact it is horribly inappropriate to laugh. What is
most needed emotionally at this stage is a catharsis such as crying, cursing, expressions of grief, irrational promises, sweeping condemnations, physical
outbursts or all of the above. Without this release of tension, it’s difficult for the individual to move on. This cathartic time varies from person to person,
and with the degree of disaster, i.e. Recovering from the loss of a fingernail generally takes less time than recovering from the loss of a limb!
After the initial pain is discharged, humor often emerges as a way of coping with the event. Laughing at a problem gives us a sense of power and con-
trol over it. As quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan says:
“Self-pity is like wetting your pants in winter – It gives you a warm feeling – but for a very short time!”
Humor lets us rise above the issue at hand and get on with what needs to be done. The humor that emerges generally follows in 4 stages:
This type of humor is usually the first to emerge. It includes sarcasm and cheap shots at oneself and even the victim – particularly if the victim has
done something stupid. Many EMTs are familiar with the Darwin awards, supposedly given to individuals who have gotten killed in extraordinarily
stupid ways and, in so doing, improved the human race by eliminating themselves from the gene pool. Examples of past award winners include the two
30-year-old men who died playing chicken with their snowmobiles, Morbid humor carries no obligation to be fair, just, or rational.
It frequently includes vicious jokes about the event or person seen as the cause the disaster. It is natural to think of tragedies in terms of how they af-
fect us.“I spent all weekend working on that report and now I find out my boss died in an accident Sunday! Bummer!” In morbid humor, we are so inter-
nally focused that it is easy to be socially inappropriate. Although this stage of humor is predominantly bitter and self-centered, it allows us to distance
ourselves from the tragedy and start to process what happened.
Distractive Humor is usually provided by someone less affected by the setback. It is gentle humor that takes our thinking on a tangent and, in so doing,
helps us mentally escape the situation. Laughing at the antics of children or pets, escaping to a humorous movie or even reading the funny paper can
have sudden appeal after a tragedy. The friend who says something in an attempt to cheer us up is often trying to offer help via distractive humor.
Distractive humor gives us a break, if only for a short while. Examples of distractive humor include the radio announcer who, after a particularly bad
hurricane, opened his program with the line: “Good evening out there all of you who still have batteries!” or the sign by a bombed out, roofless store
during the London Blitz: “More open for business than usual.” In the latter example, the sign might have represented morbid humor on the part of the
store’s owner, but was a humorous distraction to passersby. The purpose of distractive humor is to reassure us that life goes on, and often to buy time
until things settle down and can be more dispassionately analysed.
Power Humor evolves next as we struggle to get psychologically on top of the situation by putting the issue or enemy down, and, by extension, rais-
ing us above. Stand-up humor is usually power humor. Comedians even say “I killed ’em!” or “I died out there!” Jokes have PUNCH lines! Risk, revenge
and ridicule are common components of power humor, but unlike its morbid cousin, power humor is clever. It cuts to the heart of the matter and must
connect with an audience. In its search for the laugh, power humor looks critically at all aspects of an event and in so doing often serves an important
role in defining the problem. It thrives on finding a villain to berate and can run the risk that an incredibly clever line will identify the wrong bad guy or
strike too sensitive a nerve in its audience. The biggest gift of power humor is that it does what its name suggests, it helps us feel powerful again.
--Continues on page 7
HUMOR AND TRAGEDY
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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.
you will get through it together and be able
to smile (at times) through the process.
Everyone has his or her own style, and if
your loved one’s humor is not to your liking,
you need to have a conversation about it
and set appropriate boundaries. Some folks
enjoy insulting, or put-down, humor, and that
won’t work for you in a relationship. Jokes or
actions have to be life enhancing, and they
should never make things worse. It is always
wise to think before you speak, and if you
think your mate might take what you are
about to say in the wrong way, don’t say it.
One of the signs of a healthy relationship
is when you are facing a difficult situation,
and you both can see some humor in it. That
means that no matter what you are facing,
Leading with HumorBy Alison Beard
“The workplace needs laughter.”
According to research from institutions as se-
rious as Wharton, MIT, and London Business
School, every chuckle brings with it a host of
business benefits. Laughter relieves stress and
boredom, boosts engagement and well-being,
and spurs not only creativity and collaboration
but also analytic precision and productivity.
And yet, as the MBA candidate Eric Tsytsylin re-
cently puts it, working adults are “in the midst
of a laughter drought.” Babies laugh, on aver-
age, 400 times a day; people over 35, only 15.
A recent study found that we laugh significantly
less on weekdays than we do on weekends. Work
is a sober endeavour.
So how, exactly, can organizations and individual
leaders get their employees to laugh more?
The problem, most would say, is that humor is
subjective: What you find amusing or hilarious,
Mary in marketing and Amir in accounting most
certainly do not. But the authors of two recent
books on the subject, The Humor Code and In-
side Jokes disagree. They believe that there’s a
formula for what makes all people laugh.
In The Humor Code a marketing/psychol-
ogy professor and a journalist travel from the
comedy clubs of Los Angeles to the remote
...Love and Life
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villages of Tanzania and the Amazon to test
their theory that humor rests on “benign viola-
tion”. That is, something provokes laughter
when it is “wrong, unsettling, or threatening”
but also seems “okay, acceptable, or safe.” Think
of tickling, teasing, a mix-up that seems funny
after the fact, or a dirty joke. Comedy is also
context-dependent— “a delicate operation built
on layers of shared knowledge…and innuendo.”
But they still contend that if you know your
crowd, the benign violation formula will work.
The men behind Inside Jokes say
“We laugh when we find that something
we’ve momentarily believed to be the case
isn’t in fact true.
The simplest examples are puns and pranks.
Unfortunately, these books offer little practical
advice. That’s because they focus mainly on
jokes.
--Continues on page 7
We cannot travel through life without hitting
a few speed bumps. When you can find the
humor in it, things will go much easier for
both of you. Sometimes that may take a little
effort, and perhaps you will find something
amusing and your partner will not, or the
other way around, and that’s okay.
A sense of humor may be the best friend
(next to your mate) that you can have when
the world isn’t working the way you would
like it to
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/
1. Morbid, or Sick Humor
HUMOR’S ROLE IN TRAGEDY by Patt Schwab, Ph.D.
2. Distractive Humor
3. Power Humor
What happens to us in a disaster?
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.
Mark Twain
Humanity has unquestionably one really
effective weapon—laughter. Power, money,
persuasion, supplication, persecution—
these can lift at a colossal humbug—push
it a little—weaken it a little, century by
century, but only laughter can blow it to
rags and atoms at a blast.
Against the assault of laughter,
nothing can stand.
ይስጥሽ
(እቴ)ይስጥሽ ከቁመቴ ከላዬ ቀንሶ
ያስረዝምሽ አንቺን እኔን አሳንሶ
ከሰጎን እረዝመሽ ስትቆሚ ከጎኔ
ቁመቴን መጽውቼሽ ጫጩት ላክል እኔ፤
ይስጥሽ ከፀጉሬ ከአናቴ ላይ ዘግኖ
ይገጠብ ራሴ ያንቺ ተጎንጉኖ
አወይ ፀጉሯ ብለው ኮረዶች ሲያወሩ
ድጥ ራስ ነህ ብሎ ይዝለፈኝ ሰፈሩ፤
(እቴ)ይስጥሽ ከወዜ ላይ ጨልፎ ከፊቴ
ይቅዳልሽ ከደሜ ጠልቆ ከጅማቴ
ከዓይን ያውጣሽ እያለ ሲመርቅ አድናቂ
እስቲ እግዜር ይማርህ ይበለኝ ጠያቂ
(እቴ)እጄን ብትፈልጊ እግሬን ብትፈልጊ
አንገቴን ደረቴን ተሰጥኦ ሀሳቤን
ያደምቀኛል ብለሽ ያሰብሺውን ሁላ
እግዜር ከኔ ወስዶ ከሰጠሽ በኋላ
ያስቀርልኝ ዓይኔን
አንቺን ማየት ብቻ ያኖረኛል እኔን
በዕዉቀቱ ስዩም
PRESCRIPTION FOR HUMOR
by Ron Culberson
Laughter Quotes
~ God has a smile on His face.—Psalm 42
~ He deserves Paradise who makes his
companions laugh.— Koran
~ Even the gods love jokes — Plato
~ The secret to humor is surprise -Aristotle
~ An optimist laughs to forget; a pessimist
forgets to laugh.—Tom Nansbury
~ Laughter has no foreign accent.— Paul
~ Laugh at yourself first, before anyone
else can.— Elsa Maxwell
~ God is a comedian playing to an
audience too afraid to laugh.—Voltaire
~ Cancer is probably the unfunniest thing
in the world, but I’m a comedian, and even
cancer couldn’t stop me from seeing the
humor in what I went through.— Gilda
Radner
~ As soap is to the body, so laughter is to
the soul.—A Jewish Proverb
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.
10 Tips for Adding a Bolt of “Lighten”ing to the
Workplace.
1. Use HUMOR in communicating information through
emails, memos and presentations.
2. Start all staff/team meetings with a bit of HUMOR to
create a relaxed atmosphere.
3. Create a FUN committee to help plan parties,
celebrations and recognition events.
4. Create a HUMOR Bulletin Board in staff area where
you can put funny cartoons, jokes and pictures.
5. Hold a LAUGH Lunch once each month where,
over lunch, staff have a chance to share jokes, stories,
embarrassing moments and other funny things.
6. Collect HUMOROUS books, tapes, and magazines to be
made available to staff and clients to relieve stress.
7. Create a FUN Stress Relief Area for staff that includes
stress balls, candy, Koosh Balls.
8. Cut out a famous person’s picture from the newspaper
and put it over the photo on your name badge.
9. Give a FUN prize each week to the staff person who
had to deal with the most difficult task or client.
10. Stick funny weird images at staff area without no one
watching you.
https://bradmontgomery.com/guest-speakers/prescription-
for-humor/
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. Megabi Hadis Eshetu Alemayehu, a renowned spiritual teacher who is known for preaching with humor was ones
asked “If god laughs?” and He answered “No, God doesn’t laugh because he knows everything and you need the mo-
ment of surprise to make someone laugh but I believe God has the highest sense of humor.”We don’t usually associ-
ate spirituality with humor but they are closer than we think they are.
Imagine If Noah Built the Ark in the Year 2000? The story of Noah and the Ark is very well know. He built that really
big boat when God told him it was going to rain, and rain, and rain.And that was thousands of years ago, almost an
epoch! What if Noah began building the same Ark in the Year 2000. In the United States?
And the Lord spoke to Noah and said, In one year I am going to make it rain and cover the whole earth with water until all flesh is destroyed. But I want
you to save the righteous people and two of every kind of living thing on earth.Therefore, I am commanding you to build an Ark. In a flash of lighting,
God delivered the specifications for an Ark. In fear and trembling, Noah took the plans and agreed to build the Ark.“Remember,” said the Lord,“you must
complete the ARK and bring everything aboard in one year.”
Noah and the Ark, a Year Later
Exactly one year later, fierce storm clouds covered the earth and all the seas of the earth went into a tumult.The Lord saw that Noah was sitting in his
front yard weeping.
“Noah!” He shouted,“Where is the Ark?”
“Lord, please forgive me,” cried Noah.“I did my best, but there were big problems.”
First, I had to get a permit for construction, and your plans did not meet the building codes. I had to hire an engineering firm and redraw the plans.
Then I got into a fight with OSHA over whether or not the Ark needed a sprinkler system and approved flotation devices.
Then, my neighbour objected, claiming I was violating zoning ordinances by building the Ark in my front yard, so I had to get a variance from the city plan-
ning commission.Then, I had problems getting enough wood for the Ark, because there was a ban on cutting trees to protect the Spotted Owl. I finally
convinced the US Forest Services that I really needed the wood to save the owls. However, the Fish and Wildlife Service won’t let me take the 2 owls.
Noah’s Problems While Trying to Build the Ark.
The carpenters formed a union and went on strike. I had to negotiate a settlement with the National Labour Relations Board before anyone would pick up
a saw or hammer.
Now I have 16 carpenters on the Ark, but still no owls. When I started rounding up the other animals, an animal rights group sued me.They objected to me
taking only two of each kind aboard.This suit is pending.
Meanwhile, the EPA notified me that I could not complete the Ark without filing an environmental impact statement on your proposed flood.They didn’t
take very kindly to the idea that they had no jurisdiction over the conduct of the Creator of the Universe.
Then, the Army Corps of Engineers demanded a map of the proposed flood plan.
I sent them a globe. Right now, I am trying to resolve a complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that I am practicing discrimi-
nation by not taking atheists aboard.
The IRS has seized my assets, claiming that I’m building the Ark in preparation to flee the country to avoid paying taxes. I just got a notice from the state
that I owe them some kind of user tax and failed to register the Ark as a ‘recreational water craft.’
And finally... the ACLU got the courts to issue an injunction against further construction of the ARK, saying that since God is flooding the earth, it’s a
religious event, and therefore unconstitutional.
I really don’t think I can finish the Ark for another five or six years. Noah waited.
God Speaks
The sky began to clear, the sun began to shine, and the seas began to calm.
A rainbow arced across the sky. Noah looked up hopefully.
“You mean you’re not going to destroy the earth, Lord?”
No,“He said sadly, I don’t have to.The government already has.”
https://www.atimetolaugh.org/noahsark2000.html
Noah’s Ark in the Year 2000
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02
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.
flexibly, makes it not just the ideal humor to
resolve a crisis but the best kind of humor
to precede a strategy or problem-solving
session. While each form of humor serves a
purpose, there is a hierarchy and connective
humor, with its emphasis on caring and col-
laboration, is at the top. Within this hierarchy
of humor, emergency and disaster relief staff
frequently move from a setback to morbid
humor faster than the general population.
Emergency medi-
cal personnel leap
to morbid humor so
quickly because:
1. They have seen it before. They’re just over
the first shock.
4. Connective Humor
Connective Humor is the highest level of
humor. It is the most self-confident and
compassionate form. Like power humor, it is
most effective when it hits directly on the
underlying issue, and does so with imagina-
tion and cleverness. Unlike power humor, its
purpose is to connect people to each other
while reminding them that they are bigger
than the event. After all, if
you can laugh at something
it can’t be so overwhelming.
It brings in other view-
points, perspectives and values. Its complex-
ity and its demand that all involved think
...Leaders
As a manager, you might be able to slip one of
those into a speech or a presentation from time
to time, but you’re certainly not going to walk
around the office lobbing one-liners and insults
like Richard Pryor.
“A priest, a rabbi, and a nun walk into a bar,
and the bartender says,‘What is this, a joke?’”
How, then, can you put the work of these
authors to good use? Their theories can help
us understand what kind of humor works at the
office and why.
Self-deprecating stories between peers?
Light teasing among longtime colleagues?
Privately poking fun at outsiders who prompt
the same reaction from your entire group (for
example, arrogant consultants or interns)?
Of course, all of this must be done with ex-
treme care. (Every culture has its own version
of the BAD joke, in fact in Japan “hilarity…is
reserved for certain locales only), Although
employees admire and feel more motivated by
leaders who use humor effectively, they have
less respect for those who try to be funny and
fail or who make fun of themselves. Lets look
at some of the broader recommendations sum-
marized in The Humor Code:
- It’s not about being or not you’re funny, it’s
what kind of funny you are. Be honest and
authentic.
- If you can’t be “ha-ha” funny, at least be
“aha!” funny. Cleverness is good enough.
- Good comedy is a conspiracy. Create an
in-group.
- Don’t be afraid to chuckle at yourself. It
signals everything is okay.
- Laughter is disarming. Poke fun at the stuff
...Tragedy
Have you got an interesting story to tell or any comments? Write to us at positivethinkersaa@gmail.com
2.They are not usually acquainted with the
victims & saved from emotional involvement.
3.They have to process disaster fast, they
can’t allow themselves to be immobilized.
The individuals who thrive in this stressful
field do so because they learned not just to
use morbid humor, but to move through this
stage of humor to the next and ultimately
to connective humor. A few years ago I was
asked to give a presentation on “Humor in
the Workplace” to the Harborview Medical
Center Emergency Room staff in Seattle,
Washington.
--Continues on page 8
everyone’s worried about.
Tsytsylin offers similar directives in his talk,
for example, Yahoo and IBM have crazy names
like Kajagoogoo for their meeting rooms, Hulu
hosts taco-eating contests and Airzooka tour-
naments, and Southwest chose the whimsical
stock symbol LUV. He encourages those of us in
the business world to think about the power of
laughter a lot more than we do now. It should
factor into how we communicate, allocate our
time, and even recruit and hire. McGraw and
Warner cite a line worth remembering from the
anthropologist Edward Hall:
“If you can learn the humor of a people and
really control it, you know that you are also in
control of nearly everything else.”
https://hbr.org/2014/05/leading-with-humor
Jul
76 7

5. 16 30
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.
Those who laugh together, stay together!!!
Quick: What do you think the number one
ingredient for a strong relationship is? Maybe
trust? Loyalty? An interest in the same kind of
Netflix shows?
For me, it’s a shared understanding that I
always sleep on the side of the bed furthest
from the door. But one expert said it’s NONE
OF THOSE THINGS.
Expert James Preece says the golden ticket
to a strong, amazing relationship is sharing a
great sense of humor.
BUT OF COURSE! This actually makes a lot
of sense because finding humor in the same
things can lead to awesome effects, like
“Why on earth would she schedule a talk like
mine after so serious a presentation? “
I’ll never forget her answer. She said,
“This is when we need you. Laughter provides
the catharsis that lets us keep on caring.” That is
what humor’s role in a tragedy is all about.”
“We need the laughter both to remind us
that we will ultimately triumph over our
adversity, and to help clear our head for
successful problem solving.”
https://bradmontgomery.com/
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
My talk immediately followed an hour and a
half lecture on “Domestic Violence and How
to Recognize It in the ER.” This is not the
ideal placement for a humor program! I asked
the ER manager, Judy Wishman,
Those who laugh By Jamie LeeLo
greater happiness, wellbeing and bonding
between partners.
Preece told FEMAIL,
“When this is in alignment, you’ll be able to see
the funny side of most situations and generally
be more relaxed about what life may throw at
you. Any arguments can be diffused and you’ll
appreciate each other much more.”
Preece breaks down the specifics of what he
calls “affiliative” humor, which is all about cre-
ating a connection by finding common ground,
sharing stories and bonding over life’s funny
anecdotes.
“When you can both laugh about things together
then you’ll naturally bond and be a stronger
couple,”
Additionally, demonstrating humor is indicative
of higher intelligence, which, of course, is an-
other attractive characteristic.
The CEO of eHarmony, Grant Langston, agrees
that a shared sense of humor is the number
one feature people are looking for in prospec-
tive partners. In fact, for those of you following
along at home, eHarmony even put together a
quiz that can literally test how strong your sense
of humor is: If you’re up for testing the strength
and longevity of your relationship, why not pour
yourself a glass of wine and take the test with
your boo-bunny?
What’s the worst that could happen?
http://elitedaily.com/dating/sense-of-humor-happy-relation-
ship/1830953/
Take the quiz here = http://ecsurvey.eharmony.com/index.
...Humor’s Role Useful
Numbers
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