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How to Figure Out the Drama--Teen to Teen
Every day you are faced with choices about friends, school, work, family obligations, and the future. It isn't always easy to know which direction to take, and if you do make a mistake, then what? To help you out, Chicken Soup for the Soul got together with Teen Ink magazine to bring you compelling, real-life stories from teenagers going through many of these issues. Teen Ink magazine is written by and for teenagers about everything from getting ready for the prom to losing someone you love.
In Chicken Soup for the Teen Soul: Real Stories by Real Teens, you will find honesty and insight about the everyday situations you face and see how other teens tackled them. Challenges, loss, constant change--how are you expected to handle it all? Like you, the teens in these stories often laugh, sometimes cry, and at times make mistakes. So share with them their innermost fears and thoughts as they cope with loss, watch their parents go through divorce, fall in love, and conquer their fears.
Stephanie H. Meyer and John Meyer are the founders and publishers of Teen Ink magazine, the national monthly magazine that has showcased works of more than 35,000 teens since 1989. Stephanie, editor of the magazine, holds master's degrees in education and social work. John, with an MBA, is the publisher of Teen Ink. For more information, visit www.TeenInk.com.
Stephanie H. Meyer and John Meyer are the founders and publishers of Teen Ink magazine, the national monthly magazine that has showcased works of more than 35,000 teens since 1989. Stephanie, editor of the magazine, holds master's degrees in education and social work. John, with an MBA, is the publisher of Teen Ink. For more information, visit www.TeenInk.com.
Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen are cocreators of the national bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul series.
Jack Canfield had been traveling around delivering key note speeches and organizing workshops to help audiences build their self-esteem and maximize their potential when he had an in-flight brainstorm that changed his life. While flying home from a gig, Canfield realized that the very same advice he had been delivering during his in-person addresses could potentially form the basis of a book. Canfield used inspirational stories he'd gleaned over the years as the basis of his speeches, and he thought it would be a terrific idea to gather together 101 inspirational stories and anthologize them in a single volume. Upon returning home, Canfield approached friend and author Mark Victor Hansen about his concept. Hansen agreed it was a great idea, and the two men set about finding a publisher. Believe it or not, the mega-selling series was not an easy sell to publishers. "We were rejected by 123 publishers all told," Canfield told Shareguide.com. "The first time we went to New York, we visited with about a dozen publishers in a two day period with our agent, and nobody wanted it. They all said it was a stupid title, that nobody bought collections of short stories, that there was no edge -- no sex, no violence. Why would anyone read it?"
Canfield wisely practiced what he preached -- and persisted. Ultimately, he and Hansen sold the first Chicken Soup for the Soul book to a small press based in Deerfield Beach, Florida, called Health Communications. The rest, as they say, is history. There are currently 80 million copies of the Chicken Soup books in print, with subjects as varied as Chicken Soup For the Horse Lover's Soul and Chicken Soup For the Prisoner's Soul. Canfield and Hansen ranked as the top-selling authors of 1997 and are multiple New York Times bestsellers. Most important of all, the inspirational stories they have gathered in their many volumes have improved the lives of countless readers.
This year, expect to see Canfield's name gracing the covers of such titles as Chicken Soup For the Scrapbooker's Soul, Chicken Soup For the Mother and Son Soul, and Chicken Soup For the African American Woman's Soul. He and Hansen have also launched the all-new "Healthy Living" series and 8 titles in that series have already been released this year. There is also the fascinating You've GOT to Read This Book!, in which Canfield compiles personal accounts by 55 people each discussing a book that has changed his or her life. The most compelling of these may be the story of young entrepreneur Farrah Gray, who read Deepak Chopra's The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success at the age of 11 and made his first million dollars at the age of 14!
With no sign of slowing down, Canfield continues to be an inspiration to millions, who fortunately refused to give up when it seemed as though he would never even get his first book published. "Mark and I are big believers in perseverance," he said. "If you have a vision and a life purpose, and you believe in it, then you do not let external events tell you what is so. You follow your internal guidance and follow your bliss, as Joseph Campbell used to say."
Writing the first Chicken Soup book was a lot more daunting than Canfield expected. After the first three years of research, he and Mark Victor Hansen had only compiled 68 stories -- 33 tales shy of their goal of 101 stories.
Along with co-writing dozens of full-length books, Canfield also publishes a free biweekly newsletter called Success Strategies.
Some fun and fascinating outtakes from our interview with Canfield:
"My inspiration for writing comes from my passion for teaching others how to live more effective lives. I started out as a history teacher in an all-black inner city high school in Chicago, graduated to a teacher trainer, then psychotherapist, then trainer of therapists, then large group transformational trainer and then a writer and keynote speaker. All along the way, my desire was to make a difference, to help people live more fulfilling lives. That is what I still do today. Most people don't know this but I was not a good writer in college. I got a C in composition. Nobody would have ever believed I would grow up to be a bestselling author."
"I play guitar, and I am learning to play the piano. I love movies and some TV shows. My favorites are Six Feet Under, Grey's Anatomy, House and Lost. I love to play Scrabble, poker and backgammon with my in-laws, nieces and nephews. We really get into it. I love to travel. I have been to 25 countries and try to add two or three new ones every year."
Love the moment. Flowers grow out of dark moments. Therefore, each moment is vital. It affects the whole. Life is a succession of such moments, and to live each is to succeed.
Corita Kent
Losing Tyler
Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
To the observer, we appear to be two average high-school students. He pores over a college guide, and I write my college application essay. Chewing on the end of my no. 2 pencil, I'm trying to think of words to live by. That's my topic.
My mind wanders, and so does my gaze, away from the blank page. I watch Tyler. His forehead creases slightly, and I know in a few seconds he'll snap his head slightly to the side to get his hair out of his face. Counting down—three, two, one . . . His head tosses back slightly to the left. It's mere habit now, since he cut his hair short months ago.
I also predict in a few seconds he'll swear in Gaelic. He does, and I laugh. It's one of those situations where you know the other person better than you know yourself. And, lately, I have found myself observing him more and more.
The expression on his face probably mirrors my own, our eyes filled with stress, frustration, and bewilderment. Where did the time go? Days seem to drag, but years pass quickly.
I rest my head in my hands and watch him. Words to live by still haven't come to me. I have known this person for twelve years. He's been my best friend since preschool; when I have a problem, I go right to him.
As I watch him, he coughs, and I worry. I almost ask him if he wants to go outside for some fresh air, but it was his idea to go to the library, so I say nothing. At first glance, he looks fine, perhaps a little tired. But I see the circles under his eyes and the holes he has punched in his belt because of the weight he's lost. That's the third new hole this month. Without looking up, he says, 'Stop staring at me.'
Without moving, I reply, 'I'm not.'
Once, when I was nine, I looked up cystic fibrosis in the dictionary: a common hereditary disease that appears in early childhood, involving generalized disorder of the exocrine glands, and a deficiency of pancreatic enzymes. As a nine-year-old, I was very confused. 'That's not what Tyler has,' I told my mother. 'He coughs a lot and doesn't like to eat. The doctors must be wrong.'
She just hugged me.
For almost as long as I can remember, Tyler has been sick. And it has always amazed me how positive he is. In turn, he's made me positive. I used to be convinced that a lung donor would show up, so sure the geneticists would find a miracle cure. But lately, as I watch him grow thinner and thinner, my positive feelings have turned into a facade, and I worry all the time.
I know he grows frustrated, too. Frustrated that he won't have the chance to do everything he wants to. Frustrated thinking he shouldn't go to college and waste his parents' money on an education he could die in the middle of.
Tyler's angry, too—at the world, at God, and, sometimes, even at me. After all, I'll get to do things he won't. But he would never admit this. In fact, he hides it well. Only I, who have known him so long, know these things.
I'm angry, too, but for selfish reasons. Soon, I'll have no one to talk to. No one will ever understand me the same way; I'm losing the best friend anyone could ever have. God is taking back the kindest, gentlest person I'll ever have the privilege of knowing.
And I still have to think of words to live by.
I feel a tear slide down the right side of my face, but make no move to wipe it away. I don't want him to look up and see me crying. I'm usually good at keeping in my tears, but he always knows.
He looks up. With his left thumb, he wipes away the tear and smiles at me—the same smile he gave me twelve years ago when he offered half a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich to the little girl across the table who had forgotten her lunch.
Tyler looks at the top of my blank page to where I have scrawled 'Words to Live By' and smiles again.
'Always remember, Lise, these words to live by: 'Our sincerest laughter with some pain is fraught'' [Percy B. Shelley].
Lisa Gauches
©2008. Lisa Gauches. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Chicken Soup for the Teen Soul by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Stephanie H. Meyer, John Meyer. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the written permission of the publisher. Publisher: Health Communications, Inc., 3201 SW 15th Street , Deerfield Beach , FL 33442.
Overview
How to Figure Out the Drama--Teen to Teen
Every day you are faced with choices about friends, school, work, family obligations, and the future. It isn't always easy to know which direction to take, and if you do make a mistake, then what? To help you out, Chicken Soup for the Soul got together with Teen Ink magazine to bring you compelling, real-life stories from teenagers going through many of these issues. Teen Ink magazine is written by and ...