Excerpt: 'Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Positive,' Foreword by Deborah Norville
An award-winning jounalist writes about the power of positive thinking.
Oct. 8, 2010 — -- Best-selling author, Deborah Norville is best known for her work as a television journalist.
As the anchor of "Inside Edition," she has covered a wide variety of events. She broadcast from Washington, D.C., just hours after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Norville anchored "Inside Edition's" coverage of the inauguration of President Barack Obama and she covered the funeral of Pope John Paul II from Rome. A fixture on the red carpet for star-studded events such as the Oscars and the Emmy Awards, Norville is also the mother of three.
Norville wrote the foreword for the new book "Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Positive,". It's an inspirational book that encourages readers always to look for the silver lining.
Read an excerpt from the book below and head to the "GMA" Library to find more good reads.
FOREWORD
Change your thoughts and you change your world.~Norman Vincent Peale
I can't remember how long it's been since I first heard those words. "Change your thoughts and you change your world." It's a simple enough phrase, but wow -- those words are packed with power. They have been something of a lifelong mantra for me. Change your thoughts and you change your world. When times are tough, when I feel so frustrated by disappointments and not reaching my goals, I repeat those words in my head and make a conscious, almost physical effort to change course, recalibrate, and steer my little ship of self in a fresh, more positive direction.
The other day I was speaking to a group of women in the financial industry and one woman asked to what I credited my long television career. I had to think for a moment. I have been blessed in the television business. I started working at the CBS station in Atlanta when I was still in college and interviewed then-President Jimmy Carter on live TV when I was only nineteen years old. (I don't know which was more exciting: Interviewing the President or having ABC's White House Correspondent Sam Donaldson asking me afterward what he said! You could have shot me and my tombstone would have read, "She died happy.")
Even when my career took some unexpected tough turns, I somehow managed to pull myself and my career back together, pick up the pieces and start over. But what was the secret to my long and still successful career? As I pondered the question, I realized there were probably three qualities that have worked in my favor -- and the good news is anyone can develop them. I have an extraordinary capacity for hard work, an insatiable curiosity, and a (sometimes) ridiculous ability to look on the bright side. All of us can work hard, put in a few more hours at work, and try a bit harder to master a challenge. Contrary to the old saying, curiosity didn't kill the cat or anyone else. Learning new things, exploring topics about which we know nothing -- that's what gives life its zest. But finding the bright side? Well, how does one do that when you've lost a job, gotten a dire diagnosis, or seen your personal life shattered?
For me, finding the silver lining in life's clouds was something of a coping mechanism. As a little girl, my mother battled chronic illness. I remember when school was dismissed, I'd hear other kids see their moms' cars in the pick-up line and complain their playground time was cut short because "Mom is here already." I was thrilled when my family's station wagon was among the cars. It meant Momma was having a "good day." Later when she died (I was twenty at the time), I was able to find gratitude in the knowledge that she was no longer in pain.
When I started my television career before I graduated from the University of Georgia, I had to deal with plenty of naysayers. How would you respond to a woman who said to you, "You have no business being here and are taking away a job from someone who is qualified?" I will never forget that moment in front of the vending machines at Channel 5. I stammered out a reply along the lines of "Well, the boss is giving me this chance and I hope to prove him right." I also resolved to make the most of the opportunity as long as it lasted. Who knows, the boss might be persuaded the female reporter was right!
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