Amy Newmark - Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Positive, Live Happy: 101 Stories about Creating Your Best Life

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Positive, Live Happy

101 Stories about Creating Your Best Life

Amy Newmark & Deborah Norville

Published by Chicken Soup for the Soul, LLC www.chickensoup.com

Copyright 2019 by Chicken Soup for the Soul, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

CSS, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and its Logo and Marks are trademarks of Chicken Soup for the Soul, LLC.

The publisher gratefully acknowledges the many publishers and individuals who granted Chicken Soup for the Soul permission to reprint the cited material.

Front cover illustration of elephant courtesy of iStockphoto.com/Denis-Art (Denis-Art)

Front cover illustration of coconut drink courtesy of iStockphoto.com/Floortje (Floortje)

Interior photo courtesy of iStockphoto.com/Jacob Wackerhausent (Jacob Wackerhausen)

Photos of Deborah Norville courtesy of Timothy White

Photo of Amy Newmark courtesy of Susan Morrow at SwickPix

Cover and Interior by Daniel Zaccari

Distributed to the booktrade by Simon & Schuster. SAN: 200-2442

Publishers Cataloging-In-Publication Data

(Prepared by The Donohue Group, Inc.)

Names: Newmark, Amy, compiler. | Norville, Deborah, compiler.

Title: Chicken soup for the soul : think positive, live happy : 101 stories about creating your best life / [compiled by] Amy Newmark & Deborah Norville.

Other Titles: Think positive, live happy : 101 stories about creating your best life

Description: [Cos Cob, Connecticut] : Chicken Soup for the Soul, LLC, [2019]

Identifiers: ISBN 9781611599923 | ISBN 9781611592931 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Conduct of life--Literary collections. | Conduct of life--Anecdotes. | Happiness--Literary collections. | Happiness--Anecdotes. | Optimism--Literary collections. | Optimism--Anecdotes. | LCGFT: Anecdotes.

Classification: LCC BF637.C5 C45 2019 (print) | LCC BF637.C5 (ebook) | DDC 158.1/02--dc23

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019940302

Changing your life one story at a time

www.chickensoup.com

T heres a lot of truth to that old Yiddish saying: Man plans God laughs. Wouldnt it be wonderful if we could also find a way to laugh when the plans we have so carefully laid out go awry? To not be enraged, frustrated, and despondent or worse when the news isnt good, the prognosis grim, or the future seems bleak.

Sometimes you need an example to follow. There are times when a role model is required, someone to emulate as you try to pick yourself up, take that deep breath and find a way to move forward. Not move on but move forward.

Moving forward. Its an important distinction and very different from moving on. My friend who lost her husband in the terror attack of September 11th taught me that. I had said something about moving on and she quickly corrected me. You dont move on, she explained. You move forward from challenge or grief or disappointment.

Grief doesnt go away. That feeling of loss is always there subdued perhaps, but ever present as you move forward .

Forward. To a new destination. Forward to happy. A place where its different and where whatever left you needing to think positive and hoping to live happy, well that situation isnt there. IT stayed behind as YOU moved forward.

Weve all been there. There are unlimited ways to be thrown for a loop: Your spouse is in love but not with you. Theyve diagnosed your illness but dont know how to cure it. Unemployment is at record lows but you cant find a job and the bills keep coming.

Perhaps its less dramatic: you just feel sad, your friends seem to have abandoned you, the days seem pointless.

Years ago, my depression was there for the world to see. My high profile network job was over. I felt I would never work in television news again and the TV pundits agreed. Left for dead by the side of the road, was how one newspaper critic described me. I might have remained by that career roadside if I hadnt gotten inside my own head and worked to change my mindset and get myself back on track.

The key word there is WORK. If youve ever experienced a melancholy moment, you know its very easy to slide back to that unhappy place. (At this point, the journalist in me says that, for some, its important to get professional help. In my own case, I got myself back on track by changing my outlook. I did my own brand of cognitive behavioral therapy.) Books like this one Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Positive, Live Happy can be an important tool to help you change your outlook and get on the right track.

Somewhere among the 101 stories Amy Newmark and I have selected from the thousands that were submitted, you will find the message thats right for you. If youre just looking for a little pick-me-up to brighten your day, youll find it. If youre feeling trapped and afraid to venture outside your comfort zone, weve got inspiration for you. And some of the stories in these pages will have you re-examining the way you look at the world.

Not everythings always the way it seems. Thats the lesson Perry Perkins delivers in Snapshots. He tells the story of an older gentleman sitting alone at the diner. A mother and daughter enter and spot him and Perry hears them talking in hushed tones about how sad the old man must be, sitting there by himself. What Perry knows, but the mother and daughter dont, is that twelve of the mans friends have just left the restaurant. They had shared a meal and the room had been filled with the sound of their laughter, jokes, and teasing. Now that old man is sitting alone, but he is basking in the afterglow of breakfast enjoyed with friends.

How often have you heard the word no? And how often have you said it to yourself: No, Ill never do that. Whether its the voice inside your head or some person trying to dissuade you, weve all had roadblocks put in front of us. Brenda Beatties story called Cant Is a Four-Letter Word and Jennifer McMurrains story Yes, I Will both remind us that we can prevail if we just keep going. Brenda persisted in the face of doubters who said shed never land the government job that would provide financial security for her family. And Jennifer literally climbed a mountain of doubt as her skeptical family wondered how shed complete a challenging hike. Yes, I will, Jennifer repeated to herself as she put one foot in front of the other. Youll have a smile on your face as you read how that story ends.

Would being more bold bring you happiness? Lori Kempf Boskos The Bucket List will inspire you to push your own limits. Some people have bucket lists of goals they hope to accomplish before they die. Lori makes a 100-item bucket list every year! Some goals might seem laughingly simple, while others, like a trip to Rome, seem impossible. By the time the new year rolls around, Lori has ticked off almost every item on her list and shes ready to make a new one.

But the most inspiring story might be our first. Its called Facing the Fear and it comes straight from the heart of the woman who embodies the spirit of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. Her readers know Amy Newmark as the editor-in-chief and publisher of the books they love. She is also a soul sister among those of us whove had to face cancer.

Amy is one of the most organized people youll ever meet and her very scheduled life called for her to edit Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Positive, Live Happy along with five thousand other things. Thats when God laughed and sent a challenging form of cancer her way. Fear goes hand in hand with cancer. Turns out, the positivity and gratitude that are the foundation of Chicken Soup for the Soul were exactly what the doctor ordered when Amy sought help to deal with the panic that sometimes swept over her. It takes courage to be as candid as Amy is. I think her story will help you be brave and remind you to savor every moment.