Fear

October is all about the spooky, creepy, and scary, so let's explore fear!

Do It Scared: Finding the Courage to Face Your Fears, Overcome Adversity, and Create a Life You Love by Ruth Soukup - What would you do if fear no longer stood in your way?
What would happen if you were no longer afraid to dive in, head first, and go after your dreams, instead of feeling like you were sitting on the sidelines of your own life?
What then?
We tell ourselves we are too busy to pursue our dreams. That there's no time, or that it's not practical. But what if the real reason we're putting off our goals is FEAR?
The fear that we're not good enough, not smart or talented or capable enough. It's the fear that others might laugh at us, or that we'll get hurt or be rejected, or that pursuing our true potential will simply be too hard.
And most of all, the fear that we'll fail.
But courage doesn't mean we are never afraid. True courage means taking action, despite the fear. True courage means doing it scared.
The question is - how? How do we face those fears and take that first step in the right direction? How do we overcome those obstacles that stand in our way and sometimes feel insurmountable?
In Do It Scared, popular blogger and podcast host Ruth Soukup will help you to:
Identify your own unique Fear Archetype(tm) - the specific type of fear that keeps you stuck - and learn how to conquer it.
Dare to start thinking bigger about your life and your goals.
Learn how to seek out honest feedback to accomplish big things.
Embrace the core beliefs you need to overcome different types of fears.
Discover why our magical idea of 'balance' is totally overrated and let go of the guilt, once and for all.
Equal parts inspiration and tough love, Do It Scared combines easy-to-implement tips with the motivation to start making real changes that lead to big results. Get ready to get off the sidelines and jump into your own life as you dare to Do It Scared.

Fear: Essential Wisdom For Getting Through the Storm by Thich Nhat Hahn - Most of us live in a constant state of fear--of our past, of illness and aging and death, and of losing the things we treasure most. But it doesn't have to be this way, promises Zen master and Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. Drawing on a lifetime of mindfulness in action, Thich Nhat Hanh shows us how to use the practice of living in the present to acknowledge and embrace our fears, recognize their origins, and render them powerless. He guides us through practical exercises for transforming fear into clarity. Not only are we are able to handle challenging emotions as they arise, but we can summon feelings of well-being and contentment, no matter what the unknown may bring. Rooted in the moment, we have the capacity to restore balance and happiness and be present with what is beautiful and affirming inside us and around us, every day.

Fearless Living: Live Without Excuses and Love Without Regret by Rhonda Britten - With her acclaimed Fearless Living program, Rhonda Britten has helped thousands of people let go of indecision, gain clarity of purpose, and take life-changing risks. With inspiring true stories, self-affirmations, and exercises, she exposes the roots of fear and gives the reader tools to move beyond them. The result is a practical step-by-step guide that gives the reader a world of unlimited possibilities.

Fearless: Imaging Your Life Without Fear by Max Lucado - Each sunrise seems to bring fresh reasons for fear.
They're talking layoffs at work, slowdowns in the economy, flare-ups in the Middle East, turnovers at headquarters, downturns in the housing market, upswings in global warming. The plague of our day, terrorism, begins with the word "terror." Fear, it seems, has taken up a hundred-year lease on the building next door and set up shop. Oversized and rude, fear herds us into a prison of unlocked doors. Wouldn't it be great to walk out?
Imagine your life, wholly untouched by angst. What if faith, not fear, was your default reaction to threats? If you could hover a fear magnet over your heart and extract every last shaving of dread, insecurity, or doubt, what would remain? Envision a day, just one day, where you could trust more and fear less.
Can you imagine your life without fear?

The Frighteners: A Journey Through Our Cultural Fascination With the Macabre by Peter Laws - The Frighteners is a bizarrely compelling, laugh-out-loud exploration of society's fascination with the dark, spooky, and downright repellent, written by a man who went from horror-obsessed church hater to a God-fearing Christian, who then reconciled his love of the macabre with his new faith. Laws takes us on a worldwide adventure to shine a light on the dark corners of our own minds. He meets the people who collect serial killers' hair, spends a night in a haunted hotel, and has dinner with a woman who keeps her own coffin in her living room, ready for the big day. He's chased by zombies through an underground nuclear bunker, hunts a supposed real-life werewolf through the city streets, and meets self-proclaimed vampires who drink actual blood. From the corpse-packed crypts of Rome to the spooky streets of a Transylvanian night, he asks why he, and millions of other people, are drawn to ponder monsters, ghosts, death, and gore. And, in a world that worships rationality and points an accusing finger at violent video games and gruesome films, can a love of morbid culture actually give both adults and children safe ways to confront our mortality? Might it even have power to re-enchant our jaded world? Grab your crucifixes, pack the silver bullets, and join the Sinister Minister on this celebratory romp through our morbid curiosities.

Life Unlocked: 7 Revolutionary Lessons to Overcome Fear by Srinivasan S. Pillay - Everyone experiences some level of apprehension about major life decisions--from wedding day jitters to new job nerves. But what about the quieter, less noticeable fears that inform everyday choices and disrupt relationships? Fearing intimacy, change, or failure may sound cliché, but for most people, deeply embedded anxieties such as these can act as subconscious saboteurs.
In Life Unlocked, Harvard psychotherapist Dr. Srinivasan Pillay draws from cutting-edge research in psychology and neuroscience to show that the biggest roadblock to happiness is fear. Brain imaging studies reveal that when fear is reframed, a person can become less fearful. In fact, fear itself doesn't cause anxiety--fear of fear is what causes anxiety and dread. Recognizing and understanding fear is the first step toward overcoming it.
Based on his research and extensive clinical experience, Dr. Pillay addresses specific, common problems such as fear of success, economic worries, and relationship anxieties, and also explores broader subjects such as the biology of prejudice and the science of positive thinking. With helpful exercises and proven techniques, Life Unlocked shows how to move past fear and unlock the happiness you deserve.

Mastering Fear: A Navy SEAL's Guide by Brandon Webb & John David Mann - Brandon Webb has jumped out of airplanes, served as a sniper under terrifying conditions, and piloted planes through dangerous turbulence. As a Navy SEAL, he learned how to manage his impulse to panic when facing frightening situations, and as a public speaker and entrepreneur, he learned how to apply those things in civilian life. When a friend admitted he was terrified of the water and couldn't swim, Brandon volunteered to help and learned that his techniques for mastering fear worked in that case, too.
It's impossible to prevent fear, but it is possible to harness it when it does rear its ugly head. In Mastering Fear, Webb shows that people from all walks of life can stretch boundaries little by little through habit and practice and learn to use their fear as fuel to accomplish more than they ever thought they could.
Breaking down the process of turning fear to your advantage, Webb and his bestselling co-author John David Mann have written a must-read for anyone in need of courage.

My Friend Fear: Finding Magic in the Unknown by Meera Lee Patel - On the heels of her bestselling journal Start Where You Are, author and illustrator Meera Lee Patel takes us deeper into her artistic vision and emotional journey in this stunning new four-color book. A mix of personal reflections, inspirational quotes, questions for reflection, and breathtaking watercolor visuals , My Friend Fear asserts that having big fear is an opportunity to make big changes, to discover the remarkable potential inside ourselves.

Nerve: Poise Under Pressure, Serenity Under Stress, and the Brave New Science of Fear and Cool by Taylor Clark - Nerves make us bomb job interviews, first dates, and SATs. With a presentation looming at work, fear robs us of sleep for days. It paralyzes seasoned concert musicians and freezes rookie cops in tight situations. And yet not everyone cracks. Soldiers keep their heads in combat; firemen rush into burning buildings; unflappable trauma doctors juggle patient after patient. It's not that these people feel no fear; often, in fact, they're riddled with it.
In Nerve, Taylor Clark draws upon cutting-edge science and painstaking reporting to explore the very heart of panic and poise. Using a wide range of case studies, Clark overturns the popular myths about anxiety and fear to explain why some people thrive under pressure, while others falter-and how we can go forward with steadier nerves and increased confidence.

Scream: Chilling Adventures in the Science of Fear by Margee Kerr - For as long as we've gathered by campfires to tell ghost stories, humans have always loved a good scare. From the splatter flicks of the 70s, to Japan's obsession with drowned girls, to creepy modern experiences like the overnight ghost hunt at the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, the horror industry has thrived across time and cultures. Our obsession with getting scared is obvious to anyone who visits ScareHouse, a haunted house in Pittsburgh that is annually ranked among the scariest in the country, and has become a booming attraction with nearly 150 employees and lines wrapping around the block. It even has its own sociologist, who conducts surveys and observations to make its performances ever more terrifying. Her name is Margee Kerr. In this surprising, scary, entertaining book, Kerr puts her expertise to the test. Not merely content to observe others' fear, she confronts it in the form of things like skydiving, paranormal investigations, and a visit to Japan's infamous "suicide forest." In her willingness to explore the world's scariest attractions, Kerr shows why we seek out terror even when there is plenty to fear in everyday life. Whether she's dangling by a cable from a 116-story tower or experiencing New York City's "Extreme Haunt," BlackOut, in which participants are handcuffed, forced to crawl through dark tunnels, and given a gun and told to shoot someone, Kerr parses the elements of fear with humor and the precision of an expert. Along the way, she takes a personal journey that leads to valuable insights about what we fear--and what it says about who we are.