by ASHLEIGH MUTIMER
I hate self help books.
The kind of hate you would usually reserve for a cheating ex-boyfriend. The moment someone talks about affirmations or visualising my goals I dust off my Judgey Mc-Judgey pants, nod my head, murmur a few “Hmmms” and visualise them face-planting mid Downward Dog.
As they say though, there is an exception to every rule.
And no one was more surprised than I was when Gavin De Becker’s self-help book The Gift of Fear saved my life.
Really. Stay with me.
Let me start off with De Becker’s credentials. He is one of the world’s best-known experts on the prediction and management of violence. These days he runs a consulting firm in the US that advises government agencies, corporations and media figures on the assessment of threats and hazards.
Pretty much if you’re Meryl Streep and you have a stalker, De Becker is your first call. And when Oprah is your best buddy, you have to be doing something right… right?
But how on earth did 432 pages of a book save my life? Glad you asked.
At 21 I went backpacking through Europe on my own. Getting to Barcelona meant an awful 10-hour bus ride and I decided to go and see the new Harry Potter movie to unwind.
By the time I found the cinema the only session left was for 9.30pm. Completely forgetting how long the Potter movies go for, I bought a ticket and consequently found myself outside the cinema after midnight needing to get back to my hostel. Mentally kicking myself, I started walking back towards the train station along a fairly well lit but deserted path.
Top Comments
Credentials link is a dead end.
Does he have any academic credentials?
After a frightening dream a few years back a male colleague told me that we, as animals, allow our conscious thought to override our subconscious fight/flight instinct. He stressed that our subconscious / instinctual behaviour harks back to an earlier day and that it is legitimate & has merit. I have never forgotten the dream, which I took as a warning, nor his words, which I have oft repeated to friends & younger girls I have come into contact with through work. Exactly what this article is about. Feeling stupid is temporary but dead is forever. I'm going to buy a copy for my daughter to read when she is older.