Customer Reviews

On Becoming Fearless.... in Love, Work, and Life

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I can't tell you how touched I am by this book. Here is Ms. Huffington, a woman known for her political influence and intellectual pursuits, who chose to write a book about her intimate relationship with fear. What an amazing gift that a person accomplished in so many ways paused to share her story of living with, yet breaking through, fear.

Prior to reading this book, I held a belief that great people did not have to work with the same type of inner chatter - "the world's worst roommate," as Ms. Huffington so aptly puts it. Ms. Huffington has given me such a gift; to see that it is not some better, less fearful mind that makes her success a possibility, but rather her feisty excitement at moving through and past her fears!

If you are considering this book, I highly recommend it! If you like this style of writing, in which wisdom is collected and woven together through a series of stories and anecdotes, I also recommend that you check out Ariel and Shya Kane's most recent book, Being Here: Modern Day Tales of Enlightenment. Like Ms. Huffington, the Kanes are skilled at using their wisdom and life experience to guide their readers past the limiting fears and ideas that naturally impede well being, so that life can be lived at its best: as a daring adventure!!!

I really started to identify with this subject and took time in between to reflect on my life and those of my sons as compared to my daughters.
But when I got to the chapter about Faith and God I was extremely upset. How could someone as open minded as Huffington be so judmental and discrimintory against athiests? I was shocked, her point being that an athiests life will never mean anything without belief in a higher being. The quotations are so upsetting and damning to athiests that she sounds so much like the evangalicals she detests than they do!! She is practicing the discrimnation she so passionatly fights against. I believe she is the one is who full of fear, the fear that maybe there is a possibility that God does not exist. This chapter completely negates the book and its message. I am so sorry she chose to write this book without really being fearless herself.

Arianna Huffington could be a role model for any modern woman. She's written ON BECOMING FEARLESS as an invitation to her daughters, Christina and Isabella, to live openly and bravely.

Huffington has never feared the consequences of her political convictions. "At the heart of my political transformation was my recognition that the task of overcoming poverty and social injustice is too monumental to be achieved without the power and scale that only government can provide. Along with this came the conviction that silence is not an option." Huffington has never allowed herself to be silenced. She addresses her adversaries with verve and mental acuity, and is known for her bulldog tenacity in facing conflict. It is no surprise to learn that she headed the debating society at Cambridge University.

In this book she lays out some gutsy principles to live by. Demystify money and don't let it rule your life. Don't be afraid of aging: "fifty really is the new thirty." Be fearless with the possibility of power; Arianna hasn't let men, like Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 2003 race for governor of California, hold her back with the suggestion that she "drink more decaf."

Huffington has run for high office, made herself a known and to-be-reckoned-with face on our television screens, and has done so without sacrificing her femininity. She would perhaps say that stalking the corridors of political power and making demands of the system is at the very heart of femininity. Citing examples from the world of corporate America, Huffington shows us many exemplars of decisive, assertive women, and concludes, "If you want to succeed big, there is no substitute for simply sticking your neck out."

In her fifties, the author launched a dynamic website, The Huffington Post, quoting research that indicates that "later in life more women than men are jumping in and starting new projects." She presents the example of Sherry Lansing, who "with sixty looming" began a new career in philanthropy, forming her own foundation devoted to cancer research. Throughout this nicely blended book (fact, opinion, humor and theory), Huffington generously gives praise to her friends and role models, particularly her mother, for whom fear was never an option.

Huffington treats without hesitation that most profound of all "what ifs" --- the fear of death --- and in doing so summarizes her philosophy of fearlessness. "Trusting that there is more to the world than what we can see and finding a way to connect to it can help us face our mortality with fearlessness and bring this fearlessness into everyday life."

--- Reviewed by Barbara Bamberger Scott

The message to live authentically, overcoming fears to do what is right, is not a new one, but is useful and important. With many real-life examples from Arianna, her family, and friends, there was much practical insight. Most people (even though the book is geared towards women) will find role models or sentiments they can identify with within these pages - I found a few lines discussing love and pain to be right on my personal mark.

Despite the anecdotes and positivity. I found the chapter on God to be difficult to get through. While we all have our opinions and beliefs about faith, using debatable research findings - a study citing humans being hardwired to believe in God - made me pause. If this is a book about being spiritually fearless, why not include someone who is fearlessly atheistic? Furthermore, if the beliefs spoken of in this chapter are Juedo-Christian, then why is there any fear? During my church-going years and certainly among Christian relations,the ethos was one of Faith being the antithesis of fear. I did take heart in the fact that she also cited inspiration and guidance from deities from the Greek Pantheon, especially Hestia, the Goddess of hearth and home; it's good to see that one can draw inspiration from a variety of traditions without feeling like your chance at enlightenment is being compromised.

All in all, it's an inspiring read for anyone who has let themself be overcome by fear, letting it dictate your choices and holding you back from being the best person you can be. It's also well-written, which is a joy and a rarity in inspirational writing.

I am a trained Psychologist and have been practicing psychotherapy for fifteen years. In reading On Becoming Fearless, I had the unexpected - and pleasurable - experience of taking a review of my life. Just like in a good therapy I found myself asking and reflecting on the following questions: "Where have I been? Where am I now? Where do I want to be? The chapters hit all the important areas in a human life addressing issues around our bodies, our loves, our children, our work, our money, our aging, our spirituality. After completing my own personal therapy a dozen years ago the book was a refreshing opportunity to pick up again on the narratives of my own personal journey. Arianna Huffington is a wise and capable guide and it is clear that she cares deeply and compassionately for women and their well-being and happiness. Weaving her own story and those of other women throughout the chapters I played with adding my own voice into the conversation. This made me realize how important it is for women to start or join an ongoing women's group. And Arianna has made it especially easy for us as she has already given us the syllabus!!

As a career consultant, I'm always looking for books to recommend to my clients and ezine readers. Fear is always top-of-mind for career-changers. So I was hoping to gain new ideas and perhaps be able to recommend a new book.

Since I don't live in California, I didn't recognize Huffington's name from her gubernatorial race. I don't know her name or politics.

On Becoming Fearless seems to be a collection of random thoughts, interspersed with brief essays from celebrities and notables. Alas, publishers like names more than ideas and revere fame more than substance.

The chapter on aging seems at best irrelevant and at worst insensitive. Huffington begins by noting the Greek respect for elders. True, many cultures do revere elders (although I wonder how long that pattern will continue). But that's not relevant to most of us.

Don't look in the mirror, Huffington says. Accept yourself. But she acknowledges her use of detox processes (yuk) and the services of a very special esthetician (beyond reach and pocketbook of most aging women).

In another example, the chapter on money sings the familiar song of passion and abundance. While many people are held back by fear, a little healthy caution can save others from disastrous moves. Some people handle risk better than others. Some come up with realistic dreams while others build castles in the air.

Bottom Line: I was disappointed in my quest for a new book to recommend. If you want to read a really good book on fear, get Thom Rutledge's book, Embracing Fear. Or read one of Harriet Lerner's books.

What's really scary is that fluff and New Age-y books are so quick to attract publishers and ultimately readers.

Loved the book and bought it for my daughters and neices. Only one issue - the god chapter. Arianna makes many assumptions about something she obviously knows nothing about: atheism. In this chapter all reason and logic dissipate and she makes statements as though they are fact rather than her own uneducated judgements. Some thoughts to consider while reading this out-of-place chapter:
An atheist's life is not emotionally unbearable, filled with fear or a barren terrain. It is in fact a life that is appreciated and wondrous considering that we only get to live it once.
Life has meaning without god. With no god to concern myself with - I find I have much more time for meaningful endeavors and enjoyment without the pall of fear always hanging about. I don't need a supernatural being to give my life meaning - it has meaning in and of itself.
She obviously hasn't read or spoken in depth to anyone who is an atheist. She has one agenda and bias towards faith, thus lending no credibility to her assumption that those without faith are unhappy - and that does nothing to change that faith is nothing more than wishful thinking. She goes from being a woman of intellectual integrity to a little girl who believes in wishful thinking and wants the rest of us to do so.
People of faith have a need to falsely state how unhappy, misguided and empty atheists must be. They seem to want us to join in the misery of fear and submission that faith seems to promote.
It is fearless to face the possibility that there is no god. It is fearless to live life as it is, to rely on yourself, living in reality with no seeking out of some mythical presence. It is fearless to know that you get one life and to make the most of it for yourself and others with no promise of an afterlife.
I wouldn't even bother reading this chapter - it only serves to undo what she is setting out to do by writing the book. The book would have gotten fives stars if not for that one chapter.

I am not embarrassed to say that I needed to read this book and gain the wisdom it has to offer. Of course, I would have been afraid to admit that prior to reading the book and learning that dealing with fear is nothing to be ashamed of. How astounding to hear from so many other women, many I have admired for years, about their fears and how they overcame them. Arianna has written an honest and insightful guide that I can see myself returning to many times in the next phase of my life whenever I need another fearlessness boast to propel me forward. Bless you Arianna for writing this book and getting so many remarkable women to openly tell their stories. A great gift for women.

Arianna Huffington is an author and Internet entrepreneur who believes conquering fear is the first step in leading a fulfilled life and making a difference in the world - and On Becoming Fearless in Love, Work and Life tells exactly how this may be achieved. The author is fearless - but not by nature, so her struggles with fear and techniques for overcoming fear-driven responses will strike a chord in any who suffer from the same. She builds a model for becoming fearless through routine and behavior modification - a program any reader can learn here.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

A pretty good book with some inspiring women and quotes. However, all the references to God being essential to a life without fear left me cold- very presumptious and insulting to those of us that don't believe.