The Power of Positive, page 31
Carol S. Rothchild has her master’s degree in writing from Johns Hopkins. A freelance writer/editor, she contributes to education, media, web, marketing, advertising, anthologies, and magazines — complete with celebrity interviews and backyard fashion shoots. E-mail her at carsusnh1@comcast.net.
John Scanlan is a 1983 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, and retired from the Marine Corps as a Lieutenant Colonel aviator. He currently resides on Hilton Head Island, SC, and is pursuing a second career as a writer. John can be reached via e-mail at ping1@hargray.com.
Michael Jordan Segal, who defied all odds after being shot in the head, is a husband, father, social worker, author (including a CD/download of twelve stories entitled Possible, as well as working on an autobiography entitled A Shot of Inspiration), and an inspirational speaker. To learn more visit www.InspirationByMike.com.
Ange Shepard was born and raised on the east coast of Canada on Cape Breton Island but currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband. She enjoys writing, donairs, 90s music, and of course Chicken Soup for the Soul therapy when needed. E-mail her at angeshepard@live.com.
Former public defender and prosecutor Mickey Sherman is a criminal defense lawyer in Greenwich, CT. He has served as a legal commentator on most every TV network except The Food Channel. His first book, How Can You Defend Those People?, has been universally acclaimed by the legal and literary community. E-mail Mickey at ms23@aol.com.
Aaron Stafford received his business degrees from Missouri, Hawaii and Arkansas. He lives and sells real estate in the Seattle suburb of Kent, Washington. He enjoys computer games, humor and reading as many books as he can find, especially those with a positive outlook. E-mail him at aaronts@hotmail.com.
Diane Stark is a former teacher turned stay-at-home mom and freelance writer. She is a frequent contributor to the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and loves to write about the important things in life: her family and her faith. She is the author of Teachers’ Devotions to Go. E-mail Diane at DianeStark19@yahoo.com.
Sharri Bockheim Steen, Ph.D., is a freelance medical writer in New Jersey. She kept a blog about her experience with cancer (burnishingbrightens.blogspot.com) and is grateful for her fully restored health. Sharri thanks her wonderful husband Bob, her two children, and all her family and friends for their support and encouragement.
Sandy Stevener and her husband are involved in full-time missions work. They live in Mississippi and travel often to Central and South America. Sandy is involved with many local ministries and is an aspiring novel writer. You can follow Sandy at billandsandystevener.blogspot.com and sandy-stevener-mystery-writer.blogspot.com or e-mail her at sandy@stevener.org.
There is a famous quote that scars (both emotional and physical) remind us where we’ve been but they don’t have to dictate where we are going. Sidney Anne Stone’s “scars” made her who she is today and she wears them like a badge of honor but she never hides behind them.
Florence Strang is a registered psychologist with more than twenty years of experience in the fields of education and psychology. She has also been trained in mindfulness meditation, reiki, horticultural therapy and angel therapy. Her blog, 100 Perks of Having Cancer, is soon to be published as a book.
After discovering a secret “reset” button, JC Sullivan is re-living her twenties, confident that she’s having more fun this time around. Having fled the cubicle, she seeks adventure. Not independently wealthy, she takes odd jobs — to backpack the world. She’s been to over 120 countries and every continent. Visit her blog at www.backpackingpoet.com.
Annmarie B. Tait resides in Conshohocken, PA, with her husband Joe Beck. Annmarie has stories published in several Chicken Soup for the Soul volumes, Reminisce magazine, Patchwork Path, and many other anthologies. Annmarie is a current nominee for the 2011 Pushcart Prize. E-mail Annmarie at irishbloom@aol.com.
Tsgoyna Tanzman’s career spans from belly dancer to speech pathologist to fitness trainer to memoir teacher. Writing is her “therapy” for raising her adolescent daughter. Published in nine Chicken Soup for the Soul books, her essays and poems can be read at More.com, mothering.com and in The Orange County Register. E-mail her at tnzmn@cox.net.
Nina Taylor is the editorial director for Pneuma Books, the book producer for Chicken Soup for the Soul. In between raising her husband, three teenage sons, and a toddler, she edits and ghostwrites books, and dreams of finding the time and energy to write young adult novels. E-mail her at nina@pneumabooks.com.
Carl Van Landschoot is the Head of Business Studies and the Director of Sports and Business Management at Corpus Christi High School in Burlington, Ontario. Carl is married to Jane and they are the parents of five children — Alex, Joseph, Katie, Thomas and Claire. E-mail him at vangolfinc@hotmail.com.
Mary Varga is a fifty-two-year-old single mother living in Louisville, KY with her family of origin. Her son, Andrew lives in Little Rock, AR with his father. She is an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer, teaching exercise classes at several senior homes/centers. Fitness is her passion!
Pat Wahler is a grant writer by profession and writer of essays and fiction by night. Her stories have appeared in multiple national and local publications. A life-long animal lover, Pat ponders critters, writing, and life’s little mysteries at www.critteralley.blogspot.com.
Rebecca Waters received her undergraduate degree from the University of South Florida and graduate degrees from the University of Cincinnati. She is a professor of teacher education at Cincinnati Christian University and a writer. Rebecca loves spending time with her family. She may be contacted at rwaters.author@gmail.com.
B. Lee White has been a licensed practical nurse for twenty years and a writer since she could write her first words. She currently takes care of our wonderful veterans and in her spare time is working on her third book in the Soulfinder series. She enjoys reading, writing and singing.
Angela Winfield graduated from Barnard College and Cornell Law School. She is an attorney, life coach and motivational speaker. She delivers addresses at school assemblies and corporate events and helps groups and individuals “O.P.E.N.” doors to reach their highest potential. E-mail her at angela@MyBlindFaith.com or visit www.AngelaWinfield.com to learn more.
Lisa Wojcik teaches literacy and art to low-income elementary grade children through a Florida public library system. Degreed from the University of New Mexico, Lisa is a science researcher, artist, and writer. Her short stories, poetry, children’s literature, and research work can be seen at www.t4studios-bd.blogspot.com. E-mail her at lisawojcik@hotmail.com.
Ferida Wolff is author of seventeen children’s books and three essay books, her latest being the award-winning picture book The Story Blanket and Missed Perceptions: Challenge Your Thoughts Change Your Thinking. Her work appears in anthologies, newspapers, magazines, and in her nature blog feridasbackyard.blogspot.com. E-mail her at feridawolff@msn.com.
Janey Womeldorf is a freelance writer who loves laughing, strong coffee, elastic waistbands, and travel. Born in England, she now lives in Florida where she scribbles away about the lighter sides of life. She also hopes to make a clay vase one day. Feel free to e-mail her at jwwriting@live.com.
Susan Kimmel Wright lives in a western Pennsylvania farmhouse with her husband and an ever-changing assortment of animals and adult children. She has authored three children’s mystery novels and has had many stories published in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. E-mail her at wereallwright@gmail.com.
Mary Jo Marcellus Wyse earned an MFA degree in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2006. She loves Yours Truly for Tofutti non-dairy ice cream cones and hoards them in her freezer. Mary Jo lives near Boston with her husband and two children.
Meet Our Authors
Jack Canfield is the co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, which Time magazine has called “the publishing phenomenon of the decade.” Jack is also the co-author of many other bestselling books.
Jack is the CEO of the Canfield Training Group in Santa Barbara, California, and founder of the Foundation for Self-Esteem in Culver City, California. He has conducted intensive personal and professional development seminars on the principles of success for more than a million people in twenty-three countries, has spoken to hundreds of thousands of people at more than 1,000 corporations, universities, professional conferences and conventions, and has been seen by millions more on national television shows.
Jack has received many awards and honors, including three honorary doctorates and a Guinness World Records Certificate for having seven books from the Chicken Soup for the Soul series appearing on the New York Times bestseller list on May 24, 1998.
You can reach Jack at www.jackcanfield.com.
Mark Victor Hansen is the co-founder of Chicken Soup for the Soul, along with Jack Canfield. He is a sought-after keynote speaker, bestselling author, and marketing maven. Mark’s powerful messages of possibility, opportunity, and action have created powerful change in thousands of organizations and millions of individuals worldwide.
Mark is a prolific writer with many bestselling books in addition to the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. Mark has had a profound influence in the field of human potential through his library of audios, videos, and articles in the areas of big thinking, sales achievement, wealth building, publishing success, and personal and professional development. He is also the founder of the MEGA Seminar Series.
Mark has received numerous awards that honor his entrepreneurial spirit, philanthropic heart, and business acumen. He is a lifetime member of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.
You can reach Mark at www.markvictorhansen.com.
Amy Newmark is Chicken Soup for the Soul’s publisher and editor-in-chief, after a 30-year career as a writer, speaker, financial analyst, and business executive in the worlds of finance and telecommunications. Amy is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, where she majored in Portuguese, minored in French, and traveled extensively. She and her husband have four grown children.
After a long career writing books on telecommunications, voluminous financial reports, business plans, and corporate press releases, Chicken Soup for the Soul is a breath of fresh air for Amy. She has fallen in love with Chicken Soup for the Soul and its life-changing books, and really enjoys putting these books together for Chicken Soup for the Soul’s wonderful readers. She has co-authored more than four dozen Chicken Soup for the Soul books and has edited another three dozen.
You can reach Amy with any questions or comments through webmaster@chickensoupforthesoul.com and you can follow her on Twitter @amynewmark.
Thank You
We owe huge thanks to all of our contributors. We know that you poured your hearts and souls into the thousands of stories and poems that you shared with us, and ultimately with each other. We appreciate your willingness to open up your lives to other Chicken Soup for the Soul readers and share your own experiences, no matter how personal, in order to help other people. As I read and edited these stories, I was truly inspired, excited by the potential of this book to change people’s lives, and impressed by the self-awareness you showed and your unselfish willingness to share what you learned about yourselves and the power of positive thinking.
We could only publish a small percentage of the stories that were submitted, but we read every single one and even the ones that do not appear in the book had an influence on us and on the final manuscript. Our assistant publisher D’ette Corona read every submission and pared the list down to a thousand semi-finalists. Then D’ette worked with the finalists, obtaining their approvals for our edits and the quotations we carefully chose to begin each story. Our editor Kristiana Glavin chose most of those quotations, adding so much richness to the stories. And editor Barbara LoMonaco performed her normal masterful proofreading and helped us get the book to the printer on time.
We also owe a very special thanks to our creative director and book producer, Brian Taylor at Pneuma Books, for his brilliant vision for our covers and interiors.
~Amy Newmark
Improving Your Life Every Day
Real people sharing real stories — for nineteen years. Now, Chicken Soup for the Soul has gone beyond the bookstore to become a world leader in life improvement. Through books, movies, DVDs, online resources and other partnerships, we bring hope, courage, inspiration and love to hundreds of millions of people around the world. Chicken Soup for the Soul’s writers and readers belong to a one-of-a-kind global community, sharing advice, support, guidance, comfort, and knowledge.
Chicken Soup for the Soul stories have been translated into more than forty languages and can be found in more than one hundred countries. Every day, millions of people experience a Chicken Soup for the Soul story in a book, magazine, newspaper or online. As we share our life experiences through these stories, we offer hope, comfort and inspiration to one another. The stories travel from person to person, and from country to country, helping to improve lives everywhere.
Share with Us
We all have had Chicken Soup for the Soul moments in our lives. If you would like to share your story or poem with millions of people around the world, go to chickensoup.com and click on “Submit Your Story.” You may be able to help another reader, and become a published author at the same time. Some of our past contributors have launched writing and speaking careers from the publication of their stories in our books!
Our submission volume has been increasing steadily — the quality and quantity of your submissions has been fabulous. We only accept story submissions via our website. They are no longer accepted via mail or fax.
To contact us regarding other matters, please send us an e-mail through webmaster@chickensoupforthesoul.com, or fax or write us at:
Chicken Soup for the Soul
P.O. Box 700
Cos Cob, CT 06807-0700
Fax: 203-861-7194
One more note from your friends at Chicken Soup for the Soul: Occasionally, we receive an unsolicited book manuscript from one of our readers, and we would like to respectfully inform you that we do not accept unsolicited manuscripts and we must discard the ones that appear.
Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Power of Positive
101 Inspirational Stories about Changing Your Life through Positive Thinking Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Amy Newmark
Published by Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC www.chickensoup.com Copyright © 2012 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.
CSS, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and its Logo and Marks are trademarks of Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing 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 photo courtesy of Getty Images/Richard Newstead, Lifesize. Back cover and interior photo courtesy of Photos.com/Musat (© Christian Musat), and Photos.com.
Cover and Interior Design & Layout by Pneuma Books, LLC
Distributed to the booktrade by Simon & Schuster. SAN: 200-2442
Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication Data
(Prepared by The Donohue Group)
Chicken soup for the soul : the power of positive : 101 inspirational stories about changing your life through positive thinking / [compiled by] Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, [and] Amy Newmark.
p. ; cm.
ISBN: 978-1-61159-903-9
ISBN-13: 978-1-6115-9218-4 (eBook)
1. Optimism--Literary collections. 2. Optimism--Anecdotes. 3. Attitude (Psychology)--Literary collections. 4. Attitude (Psychology)--Anecdotes. 5. Conduct of life--Literary collections. 6. Conduct of life--Anecdotes. 7. Anecdotes. I. Canfield, Jack, 1944- II. Hansen, Mark Victor. III. Newmark, Amy. IV. Title: Power of positive
PN6071.O7 C45 2012
810.8/02/0353
2012943521
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
on acid∞free paper
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Jack Canfield, The Power of Positive
