Count Your Blessings, page 1
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Count Your Blessings
101 Stories of Gratitude, Fortitude, and Silver Linings
Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Amy Newmark, Laura Robinson, Elizabeth Bryan
Published by Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC www.chickensoup.com
Copyright © 2009 by Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, 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.
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Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication Data
(Prepared by The Donohue Group)
Chicken soup for the soul: count your blessings: 101 stories of gratitude,
fortitude, and silver linings / [compiled by] Jack Canfield … [et al.].
p.; cm.
ISBN: 978-1-935096-42-9
eISBN: 978-1-611591-38-5
1. Gratitude—Literary collections. 2. Gratitude—Anecdotes. 3. Fortitude—Literary collections. 4. Fortitude--Anecdotes. 5. Conduct of life--Literary collections. 6. Conduct of life--Anecdotes. I. Canfield, Jack, 1944- II. Title: Count your blessings
PN6071.G73 C45 2009
810.8/02/0353 2009935581
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
on acid∞free paper
18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 05 06 07 08 09 10
www.chickensoup.com
Contents
Introduction, Amy Newmark
Accidental Blessings, Elizabeth Bryan
From Balderdash to Blessings, Laura Robinson
~Expressing Gratitude~
1. The Blessing Sheet, Terri Tiffany
2. Counting Laps, Patricia Lorenz
3. “You Are a Lucky Person” Dena Slater
4. The Blessing Bowl, Heather Simms Schichtel
5. A Little Bird Told Me, Laura Robinson
6. Resilience, Linda Tabbert as told to Debbie Harrell
7. Other People’s Beds, Judith Marks-White
8. We Didn’t Know, Isabella Gianni as told to B.J. Taylor
9. Flooded with Blessings, Karen H. Gros
10. Don’t Take Away My Coffee, Rebecca Jay
11. Healing Toxin, Maria Victoria Espinosa-Peterson
~Back to Basics~
12. Opting for a Slower Pace, Mimi Greenwood Knight
13. No Longer Needed, Helen Stein
14. Making a Home from Scratch, Risa Nye
15. I Don’t Want to Die! Valerie Whisenand
16. The Sweetest Sight, Rachel Allord
17. We Have It All, Christina Dymock
18. The Flag, Cheryl Maguire
19. My Half of the Sheets, Elizabeth Bryan
20. A Valentine’s Day to Remember, Rob L. Berry
21. This Is the Life! Jennifer Oliver
~Recovering from Adversity~
22. Victor Not Victim, LaVerne Otis 75
23. My Super Bowl Highlight, Woody Woodburn
24. Floating Bones, Alaina Smith
25. Turkey and Blessings, Ginger Manley
26. A Mother’s Battle for Her Boys, Sherri A. Stanczak
27. One Step at a Time, Jennifer Crites
28. One Second Changed My Life Forever, Susie Dinsmore
29. Never Lose Hope, Carly Collins
30. Standard of Care, Meg Werner Moreta
31. The Gift of Life, Ashley Young
~Silver Linings~
32. The Unexpected Detour, Dayle Allen Shockley
33. The Comfortable Living Checklist, Britteny Elrick
34. A Tree Fell Through It, Sarah Hamaker
35. The Light at the End of the Tunnel, Michele H. Lacina
36. Hurricane Rita and Her Silver Lining, Kristen Clark
37. Bank-Owned Happiness, Marilyn Kentz
38. Carrying On, Priscilla Dann-Courtney
39. The Strings that Pulled Me Through, Leah M. Cano
40. Hurricane Hummers, Betsy S. Franz
41. The Uninvited Guest, David Hyman
~The Joy of Giving~
42. Charity Begins Harriet Cooper
43. But for God’s Grace, Connie Cameron
44. Never Too Poor to Give, Drema Sizemore Drudge
45. Unexpected Blessings, Kelley Hunsicker
46. For Richer, For Poorer, Mandy Houk
47. Third World Banquet, Andrea Fecik
48. Hungry in the Big Apple, Tasha Mitchell
49. Making Christmas Hope, Paula Maugiri Tindall
50. Her Make-a-Difference Life, Theresa Sanders
51. Sister, Tammy L. Justice
~Attitude Is Everything~
52. Our Bad Day … Week … Month … Year, Diane Stark
53. Where’s Your Focus? M. Sean Marshall
54. A Change in Lifestyle, Jacqueline Seewald
55. Nathalie’s Lessons, Joyce E. Sudbeck
56. If I Didn’t Laugh, I’d Cry, Anne Dunne
57. Through a Glass Darkly, Bill Wetterman
58. Playing the Game, Natalia K. Lusinski
59. Why Me? Laura L. Bradford
60. The Unlikely Cheering Section, Peter J. Green
61. The Ten Best Things, Cara Holman
62. Never a Bad Day, Patrick Matthews.
~I’ve Got What I Need~
63. Homeward Bound, Karen Kosman
64. Mango Mud Blessings, Linda Apple
65. The Best Gift, Barbara Canale
66. Staircase of Faith, Janeen A. Lewis
67. Offbeat Jobs and E’s Story, Laraine Paquette
68. Note to Myself, Elaine K. Green
69. The Skid Row Float, Annmarie B. Tait
70. Lunch with a Facebook Friend, Carol Band
71. Her Real Mother, Susan Peters
72. Three Months to Work, Chantal Panozzo
~Thank My Lucky Stars~
73. A Blessing in the Storm, Emeri B. O’Brien
74. Bus Stop Blessing, LaVerne Otis
75. The Poop that Saved Christmas, Dan Bain
76. Exactly What We Needed, Rose M. Jackson
77. Tsunami Survivor, Sheoli V. Gunaratne
78. Beginning at the End, Joe Rector
79. Everything Makes Sense in Reverse, Rebecca Hill
80. Additional Views, Ava Pennington
81. Little Blond Blessing, Beverly F. Walker
~A New Perspective~
82. I Found My Son Again, Stephen R. Covey
83. The Girl in the Box, Karen Koczwara
84. An Unexpected Encounter, Marna Malag Jones
85. The Lunch Hour, Michelle Mach
86. Emergencies of the Heart, Linda B. Breeden
87. Lesson from Everest, Dr. Timothy W. Warren
88. We’re Saved! Nancy Canfield
89. Without a Warning, Miriam Hill
90. Precious Moments, Karen Kosman
91. Five Open Hearts, Leigh Anne Saxe
~Having Faith~
92. Give Thanks, Susan Lugli
93. A True Friend, a Godsend, Bob Arba
94. Blessed by More than Enough, Joie Fields
95. Lifestyle versus Life, Kay Klebba
96. My Name Is Nannymom, Glenda Lee
97. God’s Faithfulness, Pat Jeanne Davis
98. This Very Day, Phyllis McKinley
99. The Blessing of a Friend, Angel Ford
100. Election Day Setback, Michelle Shocklee
101. Drinking from Ola’s Cup, Eva Juliuson
Meet Our Contributors
Meet Our Authors
Thank You
About Chicken Soup for the Soul
Introduction
A few months ago, we published Chicken Soup for the Soul: Tough Times, Tough People, our book on people overcoming adversity. Many of our writers stressed how happy they are now, despite lower incomes, smaller homes, and simpler lifestyles. Many wrote about the new lives they have come to accept and enjoy after chronic illness, accidents, losing loved ones, or other non-economic challenges. Some were victims of a crime, some watched their houses burn down, and some are living with incurable illnesses or disabilities.
Many wrote about finding inner strength, support from friends, marriages strengthening in the face of adversity, and rediscovering the joys of their families. They wrote about the silver linings they found in their troubles and the many blessings in their lives. We had so many fabulous stories about “counting your blessings” that we decided to make this companion volume to Tough Times and to do it with the assistance of Laura Robinson and Elizabeth Bryan, whose amazing sagas you will read in this book.
When we needed a few more stories to finish this book, we sent an e-mail to our past contributors, letting them know what we needed and giving them only two weeks to submit. We received almost 2,000 submissions in those two weeks, a record number of daily submissions for a single book. The tremendous interest in this topic tells us we struck a chord—it seems that we are all reassessing our lives and our needs, thinking about what really matters to us, and realizing how good things really are.
These inspirational stories remind us that each day holds something to be thankful for—whether it is having the sun shine or putting food on the table. Power outages and storms, health scares and illnesses, job woes and financial problems, housing challenges and family worries test us all. But there is always a silver lining, and the pride and self-esteem that come from meeting a challenge are always empowering and invigorating.
In this book you will read stories about how to express gratitude, whether it is by making lists, reaching out to thank people, or just approaching each day with a positive attitude. You’ll read about families who have gone back to basics, and are so much happier with their new focus on what really matters. You’ll read inspirational stories about people who have recovered from horrific injuries or illnesses, and the lessons they have learned. We have some “wow” stories about silver linings, good fortune, and lucky coincidences that happened to people in the middle of their struggles. You will gain a new perspective on life as you read this book, and we are sure that it will put a spring in your step as you reflect on the many blessings in your own life.
I tip my hat to all of you readers. I know that the stories in this book mirror your own experiences, and that our writers reflect the fortitude, resilience, and joy that you all show in your daily lives. Your strength, your good humor, and your generosity in the face of adversity are a great inspiration to all of us.
~Amy Newmark
Publisher, Chicken Soup for the Soul
Accidental Blessings
Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous.
~Albert Einstein
Behind every book, every movie and every work of art exists a “how we got here story.” Some are brief, and some are long, but regardless, there is always a journey. Typically, journeys are fraught with ups and downs, strung together by some odd series of coincidences that later take on some greater meaning. They are also usually full of reasons to be grateful that we can’t always see at the time. But if we examine any of life’s stories, even the ones defined by huge challenge, there really are silver linings on every cloud—better known as “blessings-in-disguise.”
The story of how Chicken Soup for the Soul: Count Your Blessings came to be is no exception. It began with me as I woke up, pinned underneath my silver Ford Escort at 5:30 A.M. on July 3rd, 1981. The tire was holding me down by my hair and the sleeve of my white peasant blouse that I had put on the evening before. At nineteen years of age, I had no idea that l wouldn’t live forever; nor would I have believed it if anyone had told me so. I had fallen asleep while driving with my two best friends in the car, under no influence other than exhaustion. There, underneath that tire, my entire world changed.
I had no pain, as my body was in shock. What I did have was a strange numbness in both of my legs. I wanted very badly to get up, walk away, and explain to my parents that I hadn’t meant to dent the car. Because I was under a tire on the passenger’s side, my only vantage point was to turn my head to the right and look underneath the vehicle through to the road. I could hear my friends’ faraway voices calling for help—but all I could see were their two sets of legs, running in the middle of the parkway.
Seeing those two sets of running legs crystallized the purest moment of gratitude that I had ever experienced. In that singular moment, I understood two things: I was alive, and my two best friends had not been hurt—I was grateful.
As the paramedics lifted the car off my body, the lack of feeling in my thighs quickly turned to blinding pain. I had severely fractured both of my femurs, several ribs and my nose. I was lucky, although that is not how my parents felt when they got the 6:00 A.M. call that I had been in an accident. All they heard before driving the thirty miles to the ER was “Your daughter was alive when we put her in the ambulance.”
For my parents, history was repeating itself in the form of a nightmare. Thirty-eight years and eleven days earlier on June 22nd, 1953, they had flipped their convertible, driving from New York to Virginia on their honeymoon. Like me, my twenty-five-year-old father had been pinned under the car, fractured a femur and broken some ribs. He’d sustained other serious internal injuries that made his recovery in 1953 much more challenging than mine. My mother couldn’t help but question: How could the same accident be happening again; what was the reason?
I had heard about my parents’ accident my entire life—how they had nearly died together after just being married, how my grandmother had moved in with the local postman so that she could care for them daily, and how the only way my mother knew my father was alive was by hearing his screams each morning as the orderlies turned him over in bed. Now, it was all happening to me.
My own first days in the hospital were a blur of intensive care, being strung up in traction, and all kinds of theories about my treatment and my fate. My parents barely left my side—their own experience in the hospital had left them terrified that something even worse might happen if I were left alone. On the fifth day, I woke up with a slight fever and a piercing pain in my back. The nurse placated me, saying I had probably pulled a muscle when I lifted myself up in my bed with the traction bar. By midday the pain was excruciating, my fever was rising and breathing had become difficult. The overworked staff was nowhere to be found when I began coughing up clots of blood, but my mother was right there. I heard her in the hallway, demanding that somebody bring me oxygen. She insisted that I was having a pulmonary embolism, and if they didn’t help me soon, I would die.
My mother knew this because of a “coincidence”—only two days before, she’d read someone’s firsthand account of having an embolism. And there I was, having one, right before her eyes.
It was hours before the doctor came, confirming my mother’s fears. If I survived the night, the odds were that I would probably live. For me, the pain had become so unbearable that I no longer cared. My father spent the night whispering softly to me, trying to assuage the pain as I drifted in and out of consciousness. When I next opened my eyes, the sun was filtering through the hospital blinds and my parents were still sitting in chairs beside my bed. We’d come through it together.
In the space of one week, my world had gone from predictable and safe to “all bets are off.” Would I walk again? Would my legs ever be right? Would my lung heal from the embolism? Thoughts like these dominated the minds of everyone in my immediate world. Yet, something else was stirring inside me. I was a young woman faced with the possibility of being handicapped for life, and somehow, I was grateful.
I had “woken up” under that car in more ways than one. No matter what the doctors said that was ambiguous, overwhelming or frightening, I heard another voice—one that kept reminding me that I was still here. My friends weren’t injured, we had insurance, and my family had come together as never before to help me heal. Yes—I had moments filled with anger, fear and self-pity. But as my recovery continued, my gratitude grew to such a degree that I began to understand: there was a much bigger reason that I had survived.
Three months later I was discharged from the hospital in a full body cast. The joy of my homecoming was eclipsed by sorrow; one day earlier, my adoring grandfather had suddenly died. My grandmother moved into our home, and sat vigil by my bed, just as she had done thirty-eight years before with my parents.
In March of the following year, I took my first steps with no crutches, walkers or braces. My legs were miraculously the same length, and would eventually run anywhere life would take me. Things that I had taken for granted, like sitting on the toilet alone or getting dressed without help, had become momentous occasions. My parents and I had bonded in a way that I could never have imagined, and I had become incredibly thankful for waking up each day. I had glimpsed Life’s Big Picture, and while my mother will say she didn’t need to go through it twice to understand the lesson, I felt truly blessed.
I also knew that it was part of my path in life to somehow share what I had learned.
Fast forward to July 3rd, 2009—exactly twenty-eight years to the day that I woke up underneath the tire of my car, I was getting much different news about my future. After months of typical contractual back and forths, all the terms of our agreement with Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing had been settled—on the anniversary of my accident. Was this even possible? My business partner Laura and I would be co-authoring this book, and launching the Chicken Soup for the Soul: Count Your Blessings board game for the 2009 holiday season—my life had come full circle. And now I would have the opportunity to share my feelings of gratitude with a large audience of Chicken Soup for the Soul readers—what an incredible way to spread the message and share the gift of my accident.
