Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen have inspired millions with their timeless tales of everyday life. Now they team with noted women's issues expert Stephanie Martson for the first new book series in the Chicken Soup line. Extraordinary recipes for living will improve lives in nine simple steps. Women will benefit from getting to know themselves in a journal that truly celebrate life. The basic premise of the Chicken Soup seriesthe power of friendship, the joy of the small moment, and importance of relationships -- has been reborn into a step-by-step primer for a better life. The advice in Life Lessons is aimed specifically at women and their everyday concerns, such as finding time, making ends meet and balancing priorities; it is straightforward yet perceptive, and combined with powerful stories, it overflows with inspiration and direction for creating a significant life.

Granny's Ninth Birthday I often think, how could I have survived without these women? CLAUDETTE RENNER I stood at my front door surrounded by balloons as each friend handed me a colorful package. 'Happy Birthday, Twink!' With a childlike curtsey I thanked them. 'Are any b-o-y-s coming?' asked Becky, my redheaded friend. 'No way!' shouted Ruth, 'This is just for girls.' Ruth is 5' 10' and very opinionated. These were friends I'd known a long time. Becky's hair is red; she dyes the gray. Ruth has been 5' 10' for 60 of her 72 years. Eight members of our Granny Group had come to celebrate a little-girl birthday, one of many parties I missed growing up. My mother died nineteen days before my sixth birthday. Devastated, my father moved us to another state so we could live with his parents. I overheard my father and grandmother decide to simply skip my birthday, thinking I would not be aware of that day. My six-year-old mind concluded they didn't think I was worth celebrating. That was the first of the birthday parties I didn't have. On this, my 59th birthday, secure in my adulthood, I asked this treasured group of friends to help me celebrate my ninth birthday. Some guests quickly snapped the paper hats on their heads and blew their party blowers at the prissy ones who adjusted the elastic over their hairdos. Children play games at parties, and we weren't to be outdone. Cat, who had just had a hip replacement, managed to get down on her knees to join in a game of jacks around our rugged old six-foot coffee table. Genea went first. She got all the way to the threesies only because she had played with her grandkids the week before. When Myrna bounced the ball, it flew across the table. We let her try again and again until she finally picked up all the jacks in onesies. Then it was Patti's turn. When she missed, she glared at Myrna. 'Look what you made me do,' she sassed. 'You started it!' replied Myrna, flowing into a nine-year-old attitude. Becky, who spends much of her time speaking to women's groups, crumpled to the floor laughing. 'Enough's enough,' I giggled. 'Let's eat the ice cream and cake.' The pretend nine-year-olds grunted and moaned as we helped each other back to a standing position. Gladly we went to the dining room table, a place where our bodies felt much more at home. Duncan Hines had helped me make a great chocolate cake as I pretended to be both my mother and my nine-year-old self. I knew it was good because I ate a chunk that stuck in the pan. The white frosting had stood in lovely peaks until I tried to decorate it. It was supposed to say, 'Happy Birthday, Twink' in yellow, redand blue. My handiwork caused purples, greens and oranges to swirl with the primary colors in a mass of modern art. When Becky brought in the cake, I announced, 'I made it myself!' Everyone sang 'Happy Birthday' to me. The joy of all my should-have-been birthdays welled up in a childlike excitement. They sang to me

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Excerpted from Chicken Soup's Life Lessons for Women: Practical Life Lessons for Improving Lives in 9 Simple Steps by Jack L. Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Stephanie Marston, Jack Canfield
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