Chicken Soup for the Soul 20th Anniversary Edition (47 page)

I was not prepared for what happened. Suddenly I felt a prodding from behind me under the armpit. I thought, “Oh no, sharks!” I felt real terror and despair. But my arm was being lifted forcibly. Around into my field of vision came an eye — the most marvelous eye I could ever imagine. I swear it was smiling. It was the eye of a big dolphin. Looking into that eye, I knew I was safe.

It moved farther forward, nudging under and hooking its dorsal fin below my armpit with my arm over its back. I relaxed, hugging it, flooded with relief. I felt that the animal was conveying security to me, that it was healing me as well as lifting me toward the surface. My stomach cramps went away as we ascended and I relaxed with security, but I felt very strongly that it healed me too.

At the surface it drew me all the way into shore. It took me into water so shallow that I began to be concerned that it might be beached, and I pushed it back a little deeper, where it waited, watching me, I guess to see if I was all right.

It felt like another lifetime. When I took off the weight belt and oxygen tank, I just took everything off and went naked back into the ocean to the dolphin. I felt so light and free and alive, and just wanted to play in the sun and the water in all that freedom. The dolphin took me back out and played around in the water with me. I noticed that there were a lot of dolphins there, farther out.

After a while it brought me back to shore. I was very tired then, almost collapsing and he made sure I was safe in the shallowest water. Then he turned sideways with one eye looking into mine. We stayed that way for what seemed like a very long time, timeless I guess, in a trance almost, with personal thoughts from the past going through my mind. Then he made just one sound and went out to join the others. And all of them left.

~Elizabeth Gawain

To send light into the darkness of men’s hearts — such is the duty of the artist.

~Schumann

’Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer

Thought it scarcely worth his while

To waste much time on the old violin,

But held it up with a smile.

“What am I bidden, good folks,” he cried,

“Who’ll start the bidding for me?”

“A dollar, a dollar,” then, two! Only two?

“Two dollars, and who’ll make it three?

“Three dollars, once; three dollars, twice;

Going for three...” But no,

From the room, far back, a gray-haired man

Came forward and picked up the bow;

Then, wiping the dust from the old violin,

And tightening the loose strings,

He played a melody pure and sweet

As a caroling angel sings.

The music ceased, and the auctioneer,

With a voice that was quiet and low,

Said: “What am I bid for the old violin?”

And he held it up with the bow.

“A thousand dollars, and who’ll make it two?

Two thousand! And who’ll make it three?

Three thousand, once; three thousand, twice;

And going and gone,” said he.

The people cheered, but some of them cried,

“We do not quite understand

What changed its worth?”

Swift came the reply:

“The touch of a master’s hand.”

And many a man with life out of tune,

And battered and scarred with sin,

Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd,

Much like the old violin.

A “mess of potage,” a glass of wine;

A game — and he travels on.

He is “going” once, and “going” twice,

He’s “going” and almost “gone.”

But the Master comes and the foolish crowd

Never can quite understand

The worth of a soul and the change that’s wrought

By the touch of the Master’s hand.

~Myra B. Welch

T
he overarching theme in this book is positive thinking. You’ve read story after story about how people have used positive thinking to navigate difficult situations, reorient their lives, and improve their personal relationships. We all want to go about our days with a positive outlook — but we don’t always know how to do it.

It’s our job at Chicken Soup for the Soul to focus on finding stories for you that are positive and uplifting and helpful. Before I became publisher of Chicken Soup for the Soul five years ago, I spent six months getting to know the company, and I read 100 of the old titles. After reading all of those books and tens of thousands of stories submitted for our more recent books, the thing that has struck me the most is the resilience of the human spirit. We try to show you that in all our books.

I’ve learned how strong people are and how tough they are, and I’ve read about them overcoming challenges and moving on with their lives, even after horrible things have happened. It’s inspiring to be in my job and read all these stories from people just like us — regular people — who’ve done extraordinary things that I couldn’t imagine doing. All those powerful new thought leaders who contributed the bonus stories to this 20th Anniversary Edition of
Chicken Soup for the Soul
were ordinary people at one time — they became extraordinary due to events in their own lives... and because they used their positive thinking!

What I’ve learned is that we are all capable of handling a lot. And our ability to handle things seems to expand when we need it to.

Norman Vincent Peale said it best: “Change your thoughts and you change your world.” Now that makes a lot of sense, because the world you see is colored by
how
you see it. I find myself acting a lot more optimistic and grounded today than I was years ago, and I think it’s because of the good examples I see in our books — stories from people from all walks of life showing such can-do spirit, such resilience, and such a positive attitude despite their circumstances. I see ordinary people turning into
extraordinary
people, and I see how we all have that capability inside ourselves.

I’ve picked up some great advice from the thousands of stories that we have published about living life in a positive way, and I’d like to share seven tips with you:

1. Pursue at least one of your passions. If you have a job that just pays the bills, okay then, that is just your job, but that doesn’t have to be what you
do
. Find some time to do what you actually love to do. I’ve heard that you should think back to what you loved to do when you were 10 years old and you should try to do that now. For me, it was two things: reading, and hiking in the woods behind our house. And now I do just that — I read for work, I read for pleasure, and when the weather and time permits, my husband and I go hiking on the trails in the nature preserve in our neighborhood.

2. Do something that has meaning to you and gives you purpose. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Make yourself necessary to somebody.” You lift yourself when you lift others. We have hundreds of stories from people who found that doing some kind of volunteer work practically saved their lives — it turned everything around for them to be giving back, to feel valued by other people, no matter what their own circumstances. Doing good for others is incredibly good for you.

3. Count your blessings. We get more stories than we could possibly publish about people who have purposefully turned their attitudes around by keeping a journal. Some people write down one good thing that happened to them each day, even if it’s something like “there was no line at Starbucks this morning.” Other people make themselves write down three good things that happen to them each day. It may sound hokey but it works, and we hear about these gratitude journals all the time. It’s been scientifically proven that people who keep track of the “good things” in their lives are healthier and more productive, and they get along better with other people.

4. Smile at everyone. No matter what kind of day you are having, smile. We have countless stories from people who tried this, including one woman who saw herself by accident in a mirror and wondered who that grouchy lady was. She had an epiphany when she realized she was looking at her own reflection and she resolved to start smiling no matter how she felt inside. She started getting smiles back, people treated her differently, and she started acting like the non-grouchy person who she wished she really was.

5. Keep learning. Have you ever noticed how energized you feel when you learn something new? Of course, you are already doing that by reading this book. My parents are in their eighties, and yet I see them reading books to learn history, traveling, and watching documentaries on television. They never stop learning, and they talk about what they have learned with great enthusiasm.

6. Take the long-term view. Think about your legacy, not the day to day. No matter what is happening now, what are you leaving the world. What has been your contribution? For me, that legacy is our children, despite the fact that my name is on the front cover of dozens of books. No matter how hard I work, or how much I enjoy it, my most important lifetime achievement will always be the two children I gave birth to and my two stepchildren. Our four amazing fully-grown children (and their fiancés and even their dogs) are what really make us happy. I know that my face glows when someone asks about the kids, no matter what else is happening during my day.

7. And finally, take some time for yourself. Sometimes, I don’t get home from work till eight o’clock and I’m dead tired, but before I go into the house to start what I call the second shift, I just sit in the car for an extra minute in the garage, listening to the end of an interesting news report or a song. Or I go for a walk on the weekend, with no iPod, and I listen to my thoughts instead of music. That’s “me” time. No matter how tired I am, or how late I go to bed, I take 10 or 15 minutes to read. That’s “me” time too. You’ve already given yourself the gift of some “me” time by reading this book. While you read the powerful stories in this book, you recharged your batteries, gained perspective on your current issues, and remembered what you’re grateful for in your life.

~Amy Newmark

Publisher, Editor-in-Chief, and Coauthor

Chicken Soup for the Soul