Amy Newmark - Chicken Soup for the Soul : 101 Real-Life Stories that Will Show You How to Improve Your Life

Chicken Soup for the Soul

Your 10 Keys to Happiness

101 Real-Life Stories that Will Show You How to Improve Your Life

Amy Newmark

Changing your life one story at a time

www.chickensoup.com

Introduction

I ve been the publisher and editor-in-chief of Chicken Soup for the Soul since 2008, and Ive been privileged to publish 182 of our books during that time, comprising almost 18,000 stories. Ive also read about 15,000 stories that were published in the Chicken Soup for the Soul books that predated me. And then there are the tens of thousands of stories that Ive read that were submitted to us but not used in our books.

Its a lot of reading, but more importantly, its a lot of exposure to the personal, revealing, introspective stories that our writers have shared with us. Ive noticed certain recurring themes, and they all revolve around finding a path to happiness. Over these fourteen years, Ive developed an understanding of what makes people tick and what helps the most in that quest.

So, this new collection of Chicken Soup for the Soul stories presents to you the ten most important keys to happiness based on my analysis of those tens of thousands of stories. Ive tried out these ten keys to happiness in my own life and I can report that I am a happier, more grateful, more grounded, and more relaxed person as a result.

The wonderful thing is that you already have all the necessary tools to find your happiness you just need to learn how to use them. And I chose these 101 inspirational, true stories from Chicken Soup for the Souls library as great examples for you so that you can figure out how you will use these ten keys to happiness in your own life. You dont have to implement all ten keys, by the way. Even one will make a huge difference!

Youll find the stories organized into the following chapters, one for each key:

1. Count Your Blessings
2. Free Yourself with Forgiveness
3. Help Someone Else
4. Have Less Stuff
5. Think Positive
6. Make Me Time
7. Step Outside Your Comfort Zone
8. Be Yourself
9. Pursue Your Passion
10. Get Outside in Nature

Ill meet you at the beginning of each chapter with an introduction that will serve as a guide to what youll be reading. See you inside

Amy Newmark

Count Your Blessings

What Youll Find in This Chapter

G rateful people are more fun. No one likes a complainer, and everyone loves an upbeat, optimistic person. Perhaps thats why scientific studies have proven that people who practice gratitude in their daily lives are happier, healthier, and more successful in their work and their relationships.

The wonderful thing about counting your blessings and practicing gratitude is that you dont have to be born that way. You can learn how to be a thankful person and enjoy the benefits of gratitude. It only takes a little practice to make it a regular part of your outlook a habit.

Jennifer Quasha learned how to do that, as youll read in her story, The Happy Book, about how she overcame a fairly negative attitude toward life. Every night she wrote down one good thing that had happened that day just one thing and before she knew it, she had turned herself into an optimist instead of a pessimist.

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures, said the American playwright and novelist Thornton Wilder. Thats what counting your blessings does it keeps you energized and participating in the world with vim and vigor. And the great thing is that its something you can easily do, just by deciding.

Another way that our contributors developed their attitude of gratitude was by saying thank you a lot. Just the act of giving thanks is a way to focus on whats good in your life and how blessed you are to have the people in your circle. In Allison Hermann Craigies story, The Gratitude Party, youll read about how she and her children went through a terrible period after a divorce and two family deaths. One day, they were discussing how they had made a comeback from that challenging time. They decided to hold a gratitude party for the people who had helped them over the prior year, and it became an annual tradition, motivating them to practice gratitude every day as they identified who should be on the guest list for their next party.

Some of us learn to use the power of gratitude early in our lives, and for some it even comes naturally. We each have different traits that are stronger in us. For me, gratitude is one of the strong ones. I almost always feel lucky and privileged and thankful for what I have. And that makes my days much brighter. Counting my blessings is my constant state of being.

In this chapter you will read stories about how to find your gratitude, whether its by making lists, reaching out to thank people, or just approaching each day with a positive attitude. Youll read about families who have gone back to basics and are so much happier with their new focus on what really matters. Youll read inspirational tales of people who have overcome great challenges and the lessons theyve learned. We also have some wow stories about silver linings, good fortune, and lucky coincidences that happened to people in the middle of their struggles.

I dont think you can be truly happy without incorporating gratitude into your life. Thats why Ive put this chapter first. Its the most important key to happiness that I know.

The Happy Book

Every day may not be good, but theres something good in every day.

~Author Unknown

I ve spent a lot of my life unhappy. Looking back there were times that it was okay to feel that way, for example when my parents got divorced, when I was mugged at gunpoint during a vacation, when two friends died in a car accident when I was in high school, and when I was brutally assaulted in my early twenties.

But there were the other times, too. In middle school I didnt think that I was as smart as everyone else; I didnt have cool enough clothes; my mother dropped me off at school in a beat-up car. Junior high was the same. I wasnt as tall and thin as all the other girls; my baby teeth hadnt fallen out yet; and where were my boobs? Fast forward to high school. Still the boys had eyes for others; still everyone was smarter; still everyone dressed better. Yes, my boobs had finally arrived, but somehow that paled in comparison to everything else. In my first job out of college I wasnt making as much money as my friends; my apartment wasnt as nice; when I looked around there was always something to feel miserable about.