Conquering Fear: Living Boldly in an Uncertain World / Harold S. Kushner

RATINGS

Overall: 3/ 5 stars

Text Level: Medium

Entertainment: Low

Self-Help: High

Page Count: 173

Is this book right for me and my inmate?

When fear has made your life incapable of growth, read this book.

Buy on: Amazon

Overcoming the fears that hold us in negative places.

Reading this book as an inmate I tried to see all the ways fear brought me to a place like this, and how fear worked to keep me here. It was my hope that by reading this book I would be able to break the bonds of fear that keep me from growing. The author, Harold Kushner takes a spiritual approach, and provides religious tools that give readers a chance to see many of our fears do nothing but hinder us from moving towards our goals. The book covers common fears we often hold, such as death, loss of love, and growing old. After reading it I learned that even though these seem like separate fears, they all stem from the same place. By conquering the fear of not having value or self-worth, all other worries seem to drift away.

This feeling of being afraid that I am not enough for the world and the people around me is something I struggled with for years. It led me to work hard to stay in my comfort zone, even when it was negative for me. The fear of the unknown or failure has often been more powerful to me than health. I was able to learn that placing my soul in the hands of God and living with faith, isn’t the same as leaving my soul in the unknown. Realizing that God has had faith in me this whole time to be successful helped lessen my fears. I think a lot of us just want to feel we matter to others and make their lives better. “Conquering Fear,” reminds us that we don’t need to fear not having value, because God placed us right where we need to be to make the best choices towards growth.

Book Quotes

“We don’t have to be afraid of dying because it is not really death that scares us. We are afraid of not having lived.”

“The alternative to success is discovering that people don’t love you for what you achieve; they love you for who you are.”