Summary
More than 100 cancer survivors share their personal stories in this touching new collection of Chicken Soup . These heartwarming accounts of courageous people who found the power to battle cancer in their endless hope, unwavering faith and steadfast determination will inspire you to adopt a positive attitude, discover your faith and cherish every moment. Just what the doctor ordered for healing your body, mind and soul.
Author Notes
Jack Canfield earned his Bachelor's of Arts from Harvard and a Master's degree from the University of Massachusetts. he also has an honorary doctorate from the University of Santa Monica. Canfield has been a high school and university teacher, a workshop facilitator, a psychotherapist and a leading authority in the area of self esteem and personal development for approximately 30 years.
Canfield is the founder and co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series, which has over 36 titles, 53 million copies in print and is translated into over 32 languages. He is the founder of Self Esteem Seminars in Santa Barbara, California, which trains entrepreneurs, educators, corporate leaders and employees in how to accelerate achievement. Canfield is also the founder of the Foundation for Self Esteem which provides self esteem resources and training for social workers, welfare recipients and Human Resource professionals. Some of his clients include Virgin Records, Sony Pictures, Merrill Lynch, Caldwell Banker, Federal Express, Bergen Brunswig Pharmaceuticals and the American Alzheimers Association.
In 1987, Canfield was appointed by the California Legislature to the California Task Force to Promote Self Esteem and Personal and Social Responsibility. He is the co-founder of the National Association for Self Esteem, and a member of the association for Holistic Education, as well as the National Association for for Self Esteem, where he was also a past member of the Board of Trustees and the recipient of the 1993 National Leadership Award. He is also a member of the National Staff Development Council and the National Speakers Association. In 1989, Canfield was awarded the Certified Speaking Professional designation, an honor that is held by less than 5% of NSA's membership. In 1997, he was nominated by three of NSA's past presidents for the coveted CPAE designation.
Canfield has appeared on such television shows as Oprah, The Today Show, 20/20, Eye to Eye, the NBC Nightly News and the BBC.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Excerpts
Mrs. G in 3B The notice was posted next to the tenants' mailboxes in the apartment building I'd just moved into in Brooklyn, New York. "A Mitzvah for Mrs. Green," it read. "Sign up to drive Mrs. G in #3B home from her chemotherapy treatments twice a month." Since I wasn't a driver, I couldn't add my name, but the word mitzvah lingered in my thoughts after I went upstairs. It's a Hebrew word that means "to do a good deed," or "an act that expresses God's will." It is more than that, really, more like a commandment to do things for others. And according to my grandmother, it also had another meaning. This was the one she was always pointing out to me because she'd notice how shy I was about letting people do things for me. "Linda, it's a blessing to do a mitzvah for someone else, but sometimes it's a blessing to let another person do something for you." Grandma would be shaking her head at me right now. Several of my friends at the graduate school I attended nights had offered to help me settle in after the moving men left, but I'd said I could manage. Letting them help would have interfered with my image of myself as a capable and independent woman of 21. Snowflakes had been tumbling past my window for several hours when it came time to leave for class. I pulled on two sweaters, a coat, a wool hat and boots, bundling up for the trek to the bus stop that the real estate agent had dismissed as a short stroll. Maybe in May it was a stroll, but in this December storm it was a hike. As I topped off my outfit with a blue scarf that Grandma had crocheted for me, I could almost hear her voice: "Why don't you see if you can find a lift?" A thousand reasons why popped into my head: I don't know my neighbors; I don't like to impose; I feel funny asking for favors. Pride would not let me knock on a door and say, "It's a 10-minute ride by car but a long wait for the bus, and it's a 30-minute bus ride, so could you possibly give me a lift to school?" I trudged to the bus stop, reaching it just as a bus went by. Three weeks later, on the night of my final exam, the snow was falling steadily. I slogged through oceans of slush to the bus stop. For an hour, I craned my neck, praying desperately that a bus would come. Then I gave up. The wind at my back pushed me toward home, as I prayed, Dear God, how can I get to school? What should I do? As I pulled Grandma's scarf more tightly around my neck, again I seemed to hear that whisper: Ask someone for a lift! It could be a mitzvah. That idea had never really made sense to me. And even if I wanted to ask someone for a good deed, which I did not, there wasn't a soul on the street. But as I shoved the door of my apartment building open, I found myself face to face with a woman at the mailbox. She was wearing a brown coat and had a set of keys in her hand. Obviously she had a car, and just as obviously, she was going out. In that split second, desperation overcame pride, and with my breath co Excerpted from Chicken Soup for the Cancer Survivor's Soul: 101 Healing Stories of Courage and Inspiration by Jack L. Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Aubery, Nancy Mitchell, Beverly Katherine Kirkhart, Jack Canfield, Nancy Mitchell Autio, Beverly Kirkhart All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
