Chicken Soup for the Soul: All Your Favorite Original Stories

by Jack Canfield

  Robert A. Moawad is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Edge Learning Institute with offices in Tacoma, Washington, and Tempe, Arizona. Edge is a professional development firm dedicated to assisting organizations achieve greater levels of productivity, quality and customer satisfaction. Bob is a dynamic “edu-tainer.” He has an impressive ability to inspire and have an impact on an audience by blending colorful illustrations with solid principles. This has made Bob one of the most sought-after keynote speakers in the nation. Since 1973 he has assisted more than two million people, including some of the most respected leaders in business, government and education. He can be contacted by writing Edge Learning Institute, 2217 N. 30th, #200, Tacoma, Washington 98403 or call (206) 272-3103.

  Chick Moorman is the director of the Institute for Personal Power, a consulting firm dedicated to providing high-quality professional development activities for educators and parents. Every year he crisscrosses the country conducting over 100 workshops on cooperative learning, enhancing self-esteem and developing positive attitudes. His mission is to help people experience a greater sense of personal power in their lives so they can in turn empower others. His latest book, Where the Heart Is: Stories of Home and Family, celebrates family strength, love, tolerance, hope and commitment. It can be ordered from Personal Power Press, P.O. Box 5985, Saginaw, MI 48603 or call (517) 791-3533.

  Michael J. Murphy, Ed.D., DFP is a family therapist and author of Popsicle Fish and Other Fathering Stories. For information or presentations, contact The Family Consultation Team, 349 Old Plymouth Road, P.O. Box 300, Sagamore Beach, MA 02562 or call (508) 833-3800.

  Victor H. Nelson, S.T.M. is a therapist and pastoral counselor in private practice. His address is 505 Evergreen Street West, Lafayette, Indiana 47906.

  Price Pritchett, Ph.D. holds a doctorate in psychology and is past president of the Dallas Psychological Association. He is the CEO of Pritchett & Associates, Inc., a Dallas-based consulting firm specializing in organizational change. Dr. Pritchett has authored 11 books on individual and organizational effectiveness, including You2: A High Velocity Formula For Multiplying Your Personal Effectiveness In Quantum Leaps. You can contact Dr. Pritchett at 200 Crescent Court, Suite 1080, Dallas, Texas 75201 or call (214) 855-8999 or (800) 992-5922.

  Bobbie Probstein is a writer and photographer whose new book, Healing Now, has been widely praised. It is invaluable for anyone affected by illness or preparing for surgery. Her first book, an autobiography, Return to Center, is in its third printing. She may be reached at 28 Shoal Dr., Corona Del Mar, CA 92625.

  Bob Proctor is the President of Bob Proctor Seminars and the founder of the Million Dollar Forum in Ontario, Canada. Bob is the author of You Were Born Rich and conducts Born Rich Seminars all over the world. Bob’s seminars empower people to create the life they’ve always dreamed about. You can contact him at Million Dollar International, 211 Consumers Road, Suite 201, Willowdale, Ontario, Canada M2J4G8 or call (416) 498-6700.

  Nido Qubein, C.S.P., C.P.A.E. is past president of the National Speakers Association and is an outstanding speaker on sales, management and marketing. His many books include Get The Best From Yourself, Communicate Like A Pro and Professional Selling Techniques. He can be reached at Creative Services, Inc., P.O. Box 6008, High Point, North Carolina 27262-6008 or call (919) 889-3010.

  Anthony Robbins nationally recognized as the leader in the field of human-development training, is the author of two bestsellers, Unlimited Power and Awaken the Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny! During the past decade more than a million people have invested in and benefited from his seminars, audiotapes, videotapes and books. He is the founder of nine companies, a consultant to businesses and governments in the U.S. and abroad, and a committed philanthropist with the creation of The Anthony Robbins Foundation. For more information on products and services, call Robbins Research International, Inc. at 1-800-445-8183 or write the company at 9191 Towne Centre Drive, Suite 600, San Diego, California 92122.

  Pamela Rogers earned her Masters Degree in Education from the University of Pennsylvania in 1990 and teaches second grade at Reynolds Elementary School in Philadelphia. She studies acting when she’s not teaching.

  Glenna Salsbury, C.S.P., C.P.A.E. graduated from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, obtained her Masters Degree from UCLA and, 16 years later, earned a Masters of Theology from Fuller Seminary. In 1980 Glenna founded her own company that provides keynote presentations and personal growth seminars. In her personal life, Glenna is married to Jim Salsbury, a former Detroit Lion and Green Bay Packer and has three daughters. Call or write to obtain her powerful six-pack tape album entitled, Passion, Power and Purpose. She can be reached at 9228 North 64th Place, Paradise Valley, Arizona 85253 or call (602) 483-7732.

  Jack Schlatter a former teacher, is currently a motivational speaker. He can be reached at P.O. Box 577, Cypress, California 90630 or call (714) 879-7271.

  Lee Shapiro is a former trial attorney and judge who left law practice because he never received a standing ovation from a jury! He is now a speaker and professor specializing in ethics in management, keynote addresses and people skills. He can be reached at 5700-12 Baltimore Drive, La Mesa, California 91942 or (619) 668-9036.

  Frank Siccone, Ed.D. is the director of the Siccone Institute in San Francisco. He is a consultant to numerous schools and businesses. His books include Responsibility: The Most Basic R and 101 Ways To Develop Student Self-Esteem And Responsibility with Jack Canfield (AlIyn & Bacon). He can be reached at the Siccone Institute, 2151 Union Street, San Francisco, California 94123 or call (415) 922-2244.

  Cindy Spitzer is a freelance writer who helped us rewrite several of our most difficult and important stories. She can be reached at 5027 Berwyn Road, College Park, Maryland 20740.

  Jeffrey Michael Thomas is a regional vice-president for Van Kampen Merritt, a professional money management firm. He is a member of the National Speakers Association and speaks on topics ranging from financial management to fundraising for various charities through his company, J. Michael Thomas & Associates. Mr. Thomas lives and works in Tustin, California, and he is currently seeking a seat on the Tustin City Council. He can be reached at (714) 544-1352.

  Pamela Truax is the author of Small Business Pitfalls And Bridges. She can be reached at 2073 Columbia Way, Vista, California 92083 or call (619) 598-6008.

  Francis Xavier Trujillo, Ed.D. is Founder and President of ProTeach Publications, a firm specializing in the creation and production of inspirational and esteem-building posters, cards and related materials for students and teachers. His writings, primarily in poster format, are found gracing the walls of virtually every school in the United States. Titles include Who Builds the Builders?, The Power to Teach, A Letter to My Students and Giver of a Lifelong Gift. Frank speaks on a variety of issues related to self-esteem, teacher empowerment and education reform. He can be reached at ProTeach Publications, P.O. Box 19262, Sacramento, CA 95819 (800) 233-3541. Write or call for his full-color catalog depicting Bilding Me A Fewchr and dozens of other posters and related inspirational materials. Bilding Me A Fewchr became the basis for the Build Me A Future Project, a nationwide, non-partisan, letter-writing campaign wherein kids of all ages sent letters to President Clinton suggesting ways in which we can work together to help build us all a better future.

  Dottie Walters is President of the Walters International Speakers Bureau in California. She sends paid speakers all over the world and is heavily involved in presentation training. She is the author, with her daughter Lilly, of the new Simon and Schuster book, Speak And Grow Rich, and is founder and administrator of the International Group of Agents and Bureaus. Dottie publishes Sharing Ideas, the largest news magazine in the world for paid professional speakers. You can write her at P.O. Box 1120, Glendora, California 91740 or call (818) 335-8069 or fax (818) 335-6127.

  Bettie Youngs is President of Instruction & Professional Dev
elopment, Inc., a resource and consulting firm providing in-service to school districts. Bettie is a former Iowa Teacher-of-the-Year, is currently Professor at San Diego State University and Executive Director of the Phoenix Foundation. She is the author of 14 books including The Educator’s Self-Esteem: It’s Criteria #1, The 6 Vital Ingredients Of Self-Esteem And How To Develop Them In Students and Safeguarding Your Teenager From The Dragons Of Life. She can be reached at 3060 Racetrack View Drive, Del Mar, California 92014 or call (619) 481-6360.

  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 coauthor 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 23 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, best-selling 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 coauthored more than five 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 or @chickensoupsoul.

  Heidi Krupp is the Chief Executive Officer of Krupp Kommunications, Inc. (K2). A 25-year media, marketing, and promotion veteran, Heidi Krupp-Lisiten has built Krupp Kommunications into an industry leader that creates and executes innovative public relations, branding, and marketing initiatives. Her leadership has sparked unique strategic programs on behalf of authors and globally recognized brands, such as Weight Watchers and Everyday Health. K2 has placed over 65 books on the New York Times bestseller lists, including the #1 bestsellers The South Beach Diet and Your Best Life Now. The business is now expanding into parenting, as these days Heidi also creates and executes activities for or just enjoys hanging out with her inexplicably cute (okay, she’s biased) toddler son, Caden, her amazingly cute (okay, she’s biased) dog, Isaac, and her husband, Darren. [Editor’s note — he’s also cute.]

  Thank You

  What an interesting project this was. It was great fun revisiting the original Chicken Soup for the Soul stories that started it all, and wonderfully affirming to ask and hear “yes” from the thought leaders of today when we asked them to join us with their new stories.

  We owe a special thanks to our editor Jeanne Blandford, who created a new manuscript from the original Chicken Soup for the Soul, and then integrated our 20 bonus stories. She shepherded the entire project from start to finish. We also are grateful to Kristiana Pastir for overseeing the production process, and for proofreading the final layout along with editor Barbara LoMonaco and our assistant publisher D’ette Corona. And we are very happy that our VP Marketing Joelle Jarvis had the insight that led to this project.

  Heidi Krupp’s able assistant, Suman Mampilly, kept us organized and on track with the staffs of all our new contributors, and what can

  I say about Heidi except that she is the best and seems to know everyone. How she got busy people like Tony Robbins and Deepak Chopra and Dr. Oz to contribute stories for this book is beyond me!

  Finally, we need to thank Jack and Mark for starting it all, and our Creative Director and book producer, Brian Taylor at Pneuma Books, for reinvigorating this book and our others with his new vision.

  ~Amy Newmark

  Improving Your Life Every Day

  Real people sharing real stories — for 20 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 40 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.

  Original Permissions

  We would like to acknowledge the following publishers and individuals for permission to reprint the following material. (Note: The stories that were penned anonymously, that are public domain or were written by Jack Canfield or Mark Victor Hansen are not included in this listing.)

  Hugging Is from Let’s Hug! Reprinte
d by permission of Charles Faraone. ©1981, 1995 Once Upon A Planet.

  On Courage and Sachi from Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman ©1991 Dan Millman — Reprinted by permission of the author and H.J. Kramer, Inc., P.O. Box 1082, Tiburon, CA 94920. All rights reserved.

  The Gentlest Need. Reprinted by Fred T. Wihelms. Reprinted by permission of the author and Educational Leadership, 48, 1:51. ©ASCD.

  My Declaration of Self-Esteem and Everybody Has a Dream reprinted with the express written permission of the AVANTA Network which was founded by Virginia Satir and has inherited rights to all of her intellectual property. For information about copyright materials of Virginia Satir and/or the AVANTA Network contact: Avanta Network, 310 Third Avenue N.E., Ste. 126, Issaquah, WA 98027 or call (206) 391-7310.

  Why I Chose My Father To Be My Dad from The Six Ingredients of Self-Esteem and How They are Developed in Your Children by Bettie B. Youngs. ©1992 Rawson Assoc.

  Bilding Me A Fewchr. Copyright ©1990, ProTeach Publications. Authored by Frank Trujillo. All rights reserved. (800) 233-3541.

  Willing To Pay The Price from Self Made in America by John McCormack. Reprinted by permission of Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., Inc., and the author. ©1990 by The Visible Changes Educational Foundation and David R. Legge.

  Love: The One Creative Force. Reprinted by permission of Eric Butterworth. ©1992 Eric Butterworth.

  All I Remember and The Bag Lady. Reprinted by permission of Bobbie Probstein. ©1992 Bobbie Probstein.

  Heart Songs. Reprinted by permission of Patricia Jean Hansen. ©1992 Patricia Jean Hansen.

  True Love. Reprinted by permission of Barry Vissell. ©1992 Barry Vissell.