i'm taking a break from studying for my ANTHRO123 (Indigenous People in the Philippines) exam. from downstairs, i came all the way up and straight to my bookshelf which is fondly my version of a "treasure box". only, it comes in a form of a shelf. my sister always tells me that my legacy would be my books. so anyway, i picked out Chickensoup for the Teenage Soul (the first book). then i decided to pick out a quote that i really liked as an adolescent. i found this:

you gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience by which you really stop to look fear in the face. you are able to say to yourself, "i lived through this horror. i can take the next thing that comes along."
Eleanor Roosevelt

as a teenager, did you go through a Chicken Soup phase? that's what i call that phase. i remember when i was a freshman in high school, i was everything an adolescent was supposed to be: angst-ridden, insecure, angry, and everything else that fit the definition of a teenager. then one night there was this book bazaar at the Cultural Center in Abu Dhabi. my parents and i were browsing through books when i saw a set of Chicken Soup books on the shelf. i immediately grabbed one and begged my father to buy it for me. he got it (probably because he knew that it was a psychology self-help book that would guide his youngest teenager daughter live through her angst-ridden phase). from then on, i got hooked because it was like a set of rules that a teenager should learn while undergoing "the phase". it became my friend when i needed help on things. i could always confide on the essays written by angst-ridden teenagers like me. they were confused too and they were full of life and dreams just like i was. from then on i collected all the editions ranging from books I to III. then my uncle got me the Chickensoup for the Christian Soul (which really helped a lot too!) and my parents got me the Chicken Soup Journal.

it pretty much sums up the Chicken Soup phase. the reason why i got hook was probably because i needed answers for the questions that were around me before i stepped into the semi-adulthood phase (which i am in now)-- not quite an adult but (almost) no longer a teenager either. it's like the crossroad to adulthood. i'm still standing in front of the fork in the road not knowing which way to take, still confused but much wiser than before.

i would suggest the book to be read by any other teenagers out there and i fervently pray that it would do them good like it did on me. it's a book that you can always read again and again if you feel the need to do so. just like what i did a while ago-- i took a few minutes off my time to read that quote up there to ease my heavy heart.

i couldn't think of a better name for the Chicken Soup series. it really is like chicken soup for the soul. it makes you feel better, all warm and fuzzy inside-- a security that you're safe and you'll be just fine, that you're not alone in the crazy jungle that we call "life".

erm, now back to my studying. i will drown myself in mugs of coffee tonight. it's already past 9pm and i'm just halfway!! ahhh!

*breath in, breath out* (repeat 20 times)

okay bye!