Chicken Soup for the
Recovering Soul
Daily
Inspirations
Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen,
Peter Vegso, Gary Seidler, Theresa Peluso,
Tian Dayton, Rokelle Lerner, and
Robert Ackerman
Backlist, LLC, a unit of
Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC
Cos Cob, CT
www.chickensoup.com
When you come to the edge of all the light you have and must take a step into the darkness of the unknown, believe that one of two things will happen to you: Either there will be something solid for you to stand on, or, you will be taught how to fly.
Patrick Overton
JANUARY IV
Footnotes for Life
Contents
JANUARY 1
JANUARY 2
JANUARY 3
JANUARY 4
JANUARY 5
JANUARY 6
JANUARY 7
JANUARY 8
JANUARY 9
JANUARY 10
JANUARY 11
JANUARY 12
JANUARY 13
JANUARY 14
JANUARY 15
JANUARY 16
JANUARY 17
JANUARY 18
JANUARY 19
JANUARY 20
JANUARY 21
JANUARY 22
JANUARY 23
JANUARY 24
JANUARY 25
JANUARY 26
JANUARY 27
JANUARY 28
JANUARY 29
JANUARY 30
JANUARY 31
FEBRUARY 1
FEBRUARY 2
FEBRUARY 3
FEBRUARY 4
FEBRUARY 5
FEBRUARY 6
FEBRUARY 7
FEBRUARY 8
FEBRUARY 9
FEBRUARY 10
FEBRUARY 11
FEBRUARY 12
FEBRUARY 13
FEBRUARY 14
FEBRUARY 15
FEBRUARY 16
FEBRUARY 17
FEBRUARY 18
FEBRUARY 19
FEBRUARY 20
FEBRUARY 21
FEBRUARY 22
FEBRUARY 23
FEBRUARY 24
FEBRUARY 25
FEBRUARY 26
FEBRUARY 27
FEBRUARY 28
MARCH 1
MARCH 2
MARCH 3
MARCH 4
MARCH 5
MARCH 6
MARCH 7
MARCH 8
MARCH 9
MARCH 10
MARCH 11
MARCH 12
MARCH 13
MARCH 14
MARCH 15
MARCH 16
MARCH 17
MARCH 18
MARCH 19
MARCH 20
MARCH 21
MARCH 22
MARCH 23
MARCH 24
MARCH 25
MARCH 26
MARCH 27
MARCH 28
MARCH 29
MARCH 30
MARCH 31
APRIL 1
APRIL 2
APRIL 3
APRIL 4
APRIL 5
APRIL 6
APRIL 7
APRIL 8
APRIL 9
APRIL 10
APRIL 11
APRIL 12
APRIL 13
APRIL 14
APRIL 15
APRIL 16
APRIL 17
APRIL 18
APRIL 19
APRIL 20
APRIL 21
APRIL 22
APRIL 23
APRIL 24
APRIL 25
APRIL 26
APRIL 27
APRIL 28
APRIL 29
APRIL 30
MAY 1
MAY 2
MAY 3
MAY 4
MAY 5
MAY 6
MAY 7
MAY 8
MAY 9
MAY 10
MAY 11
MAY 12
MAY 13
MAY 14
MAY 15
MAY 16
MAY 17
MAY 18
MAY 19
MAY 20
MAY 21
MAY 22
MAY 23
MAY 24
MAY 25
MAY 26
MAY 27
MAY 28
MAY 29
MAY 30
MAY 31
JUNE 1
JUNE 2
JUNE 3
JUNE 4
JUNE 5
JUNE 6
JUNE 7
JUNE 8
JUNE 9
JUNE 10
JUNE 11
JUNE 12
JUNE 13
JUNE 14
JUNE 15
JUNE 16
JUNE 17
JUNE 18
JUNE 19
JUNE 20
JUNE 21
JUNE 22
JUNE 23
JUNE 24
JUNE 25
JUNE 26
JUNE 27
JUNE 28
JUNE 29
JUNE 30
JULY 1
JULY 2
JULY 3
JULY 4
JULY 5
JULY 6
JULY 7
JULY 8
JULY 9
JULY 10
JULY 11
JULY 12
JULY 13
JULY 14
JULY 15
JULY 16
JULY 17
JULY 18
JULY 19
JULY 20
JULY 21
JULY 22
JULY 23
JULY 24
JULY 25
JULY 26
JULY 27
JULY 28
JULY 29
JULY 30
JULY 31
AUGUST 1
AUGUST 2
AUGUST 3
AUGUST 4
AUGUST 5
AUGUST 6
AUGUST 7
AUGUST 8
AUGUST 9
AUGUST 10
AUGUST 11
AUGUST 12
AUGUST 13
AUGUST 14
AUGUST 15
AUGUST 16
AUGUST 17
AUGUST 18
AUGUST 19
AUGUST 20
AUGUST 21
AUGUST 22
AUGUST 23
AUGUST 24
AUGUST 25
AUGUST 26
AUGUST 27
AUGUST 28
AUGUST 29
AUGUST 30
AUGUST 31
SEPTEMBER 1
SEPTEMBER 2
SEPTEMBER 3
SEPTEMBER 4
SEPTEMBER 5
SEPTEMBER 6
SEPTEMBER 7
SEPTEMBER 8
SEPTEMBER 9
SEPTEMBER 10
SEPTEMBER 11
SEPTEMBER 12
SEPTEMBER 13
SEPTEMBER 14
SEPTEMBER 15
SEPTEMBER 16
SEPTEMBER 17
SEPTEMBER 18
SEPTEMBER 19
SEPTEMBER 20
SEPTEMBER 21
&
nbsp; SEPTEMBER 22
SEPTEMBER 23
SEPTEMBER 24
SEPTEMBER 25
SEPTEMBER 26
SEPTEMBER 27
SEPTEMBER 28
SEPTEMBER 29
SEPTEMBER 30
OCTOBER 1
OCTOBER 2
OCTOBER 3
OCTOBER 4
OCTOBER 5
OCTOBER 6
OCTOBER 7
OCTOBER 8
OCTOBER 9
OCTOBER 10
OCTOBER 11
OCTOBER 12
OCTOBER 13
OCTOBER 14
OCTOBER 15
OCTOBER 16
OCTOBER 17
OCTOBER 18
OCTOBER 19
OCTOBER 20
OCTOBER 21
OCTOBER 22
OCTOBER 23
OCTOBER 24
OCTOBER 25
OCTOBER 26
OCTOBER 27
OCTOBER 28
OCTOBER 29
OCTOBER 30
OCTOBER 31
NOVEMBER 1
NOVEMBER 2
NOVEMBER 3
NOVEMBER 4
NOVEMBER 5
NOVEMBER 6
NOVEMBER 7
NOVEMBER 8
NOVEMBER 9
NOVEMBER 10
NOVEMBER 11
NOVEMBER 12
NOVEMBER 13
NOVEMBER 14
NOVEMBER 15
NOVEMBER 16
NOVEMBER 17
NOVEMBER 18
NOVEMBER 19
NOVEMBER 20
NOVEMBER 22
NOVEMBER 23
NOVEMBER 24
NOVEMBER 25
NOVEMBER 26
NOVEMBER 27
NOVEMBER 28
NOVEMBER 29
NOVEMBER 30
DECEMBER 1
DECEMBER 2
DECEMBER 3
DECEMBER 4
DECEMBER 5
DECEMBER 6
DECEMBER 7
DECEMBER 8
DECEMBER 9
DECEMBER 10
DECEMBER 11
DECEMBER 12
DECEMBER 13
DECEMBER 14
DECEMBER 15
DECEMBER 16
DECEMBER 17
DECEMBER 18
DECEMBER 19
DECEMBER 20
DECEMBER 21
DECEMBER 22
DECEMBER 23
DECEMBER 24
DECEMBER 25
DECEMBER 26
DECEMBER 27
DECEMBER 28
DECEMBER 29
DECEMBER 30
DECEMBER 31
REPRINTS
JANUARY 1
Today I have a fresh start. I choose to begin letting go of unhealthy thoughts, feelings and attitudes that have stifled my growth. Today I choose to think new thoughts, to look at new values and to find new ways of expressing my God-given gifts. I now choose to deepen my understanding of others and myself. I will look at my relationships with family and my friends in a new light. I choose to have vital, healthy interactions with others. I truly welcome this new day, this new year and this new me. I welcome the wonderful possibilities open to me.
Rokelle Lerner
Be like a sponge when it comes to each new experience. If you want to be able to express it well, you must first be able to absorb it well.
Jim Rohn
Footnotes for Life
JANUARY 2
When I grew up, I learned not to rock the boat; asserting my own opinions and desires could get me in trouble. Sometimes I carry this over in my parenting; I don’t take a stand or set limits. When my children push or threaten to get angry, the fear I felt as a child comes up and my reaction is to placate them and keep the peace. This is not healthy. I need to feel those fears I felt as a child along with the sense of helplessness that overwhelmed me. I need to separatemyself as a child from myself as an adult. I also need to separate my inner child from the child I am raising.
Tian Dayton
Loving a child doesn’t mean giving in to all his whims; to love him is to bring out the best in him, to teach him to love what is difficult.
Nadia Boulanger
Footnotes for Life
JANUARY 3
When I was a teen, my grandmother taught me how to cross-stitch. I was apprehensive at first, sure that my disability would interfere. It always did. My grandmother reassured me that I could do simple patterns at my own pace. There were curses; there were smiles. There were times I quit and times I began again. But when I completed my first pattern I realized the mistakes and curses were twined with perfect stitches and smiles to create something brand new. Just like life.
It’s a lesson I re-learn every time I thread a needle.
Christyna Hunter
Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Footnotes for Life
JANUARY 4
Spend a few minutes, a few hours, or an entire day unconcerned about what others will think, or what’s in it for you, or whether something offends you or not.
Feel the freedom, delight in the ability to accomplish, and explore possibilities that you may never before have even known about.
Once you decide to let go of your ego, it’s a very simple thing to do. And it will truly change your world for the better.
Brahma Kumaris
World Spiritual University
Detachment is being close to what you most want to be free from and using it to make you grow.
Brahma Kumaris
Footnotes for Life
JANUARY 5
Just for today, I will not hate.
Just for today, I will forgive the one who hurt me. I will remember that I am a child of God, and I will take the child out to play.
Just for today I will ask God to forgive me, and just for today, I will let Him.
Jaye Lewis
Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself.
Suzanne Somers
Footnotes for Life
JANUARY 6
Within every human being there is an inherent sense of dignity and self-respect. Circumstances in life might cause it to be buried under layers of grime but sooner or later, this sense of dignity pushes its way up for recognition and one day breaks through the surface. That’s the day a person becomes aware that “I am too good for this.” At that moment, the miracle of recovery can begin.
Abraham J. Twerski
The best solution for little problems is to help people with big problems.
Rabbi Kalman Packouz
Footnotes for Life
JANUARY 7
Embrace life and all it has to offer, then you can live with an appreciation for all it’s worth. When you embrace life there is a sense of satisfaction and contentment that comes over you, helping you to live each moment with acceptance and gratitude. Not always longing to be someplace else or wishing for something different. Instead you are taking what comes your way and turning it into the best it can be. You can live with a purpose, enjoying every moment, and with a thankfulness that stirs in you a deeper commitment to embrace life even more.
Peggy Reeves
There’s only us, there’s only this, forget regret, or life is yours to miss. No other road, no other way, no day but today.
Jonathan Larson
Footnotes for Life
JANUARY 8
When I was alone and hope seemed so far away, I met a soul who changed my life-myself. I began to learn, to love, to be responsible for my future and to accept that the past cannot be changed.
Rather than walk without direction, lost inside my tormented mind, I learn and accept that if I feel pain, I can feel joy as well. I can enjoy the present and cherish a sunset, a lake, a tear, a smile, a friend.
Isa Traverso-Burger
I can’t change the direction of t
he wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.
Unknown
Footnotes for Life
JANUARY 9
The more I recognize abundance as being meant for me, the more it will be true. An unconscious attitude of limitation and scarcity will find its way into my life if I allow it to. When I can see the prosperity in this world as a boundless supply, one in which I partake along with others, I open the channels for it to enter into my life. I will think positively about other people’s prosperity, knowing that what I believe to be true for someone else, I also believe to be true for me. I accept the abundance in my life.
Tian Dayton
The moon belongs to everyone; the best things in life are free.
B.G. DeSylva
Footnotes for Life
JANUARY 10
Dreams are surprisingly durable. Though forgotten, they will lie like dry seeds buried in desert sands, waiting. A dream may appear fragile and lifeless, but inside the parched husk waits lush creative potential. We sometimes forget these old dreams of ours, but they do not forget us. Spring rains arrive at last, following the hard years of drought, and our “dead” dreams sprout most unexpectedly. We are filled with delight to see their long-forgotten shape, to breathe their fragrance again, and we wonder at our carelessness in forgetting. Today, I will visit my garden of forgotten dreams . . and bring a watering can.
Rhonda Brunea
All our dreams can come true . . . if we have the courage to pursue them.
Walt Disney
Footnotes for Life
JANUARY 11
The harsh winter winds call attention to themselves, and I am mindful of all the unpleasant aspects of the unfriendliest of seasons. Some memories of my unhappy childhood still linger within me, blowing icy blasts through my soul. I am aware of these, just as I am aware of the chill in the world around me. There is no need to struggle against these elements. I am as unique and important to life’s scheme as each snowflake. I have a new and abiding warmth in my soul as I patiently await the coming of spring with its warmth, sunshine and fresh breezes to rejuvenateme.
Rokelle Lerner