The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

It's like a cartoon I saw of an astonished-looking man saying, "What was that?" The caption below read, "Bob experiences a moment of well-being." The ordinariness of our good fortune can make it hard to catch.

I needed a lot of time to read this book. For me it had to be in a certain state of mind to really tap into it. This was quite a different read for me and it may seem a little too spiritual to some people but it contained some quite usueful advice.

In a nutshell, when life is pleasant, think of others. When life is a burden, think of others. If this is the only training we ever remember to do, it will benefit us tremendously and everyone else as well. It's a way of bringing whatever we encounter onto the path of awakening bodichitta.

Now all in all the book is about finding a way to remain calm, to respond but not react, or to accept without reacting to it. When we feel good, to share it with others, to send love to others. When we don't feel so good, to think of everyone else feeling this way and to feel as a part of something. It teaches you equanimity. The author says that the book is best read in an "inbetween state" or when we feel anxiety, heartbreak or tenderness. We should acknowledge it and then let it soften us and help us get to a better place and not make us feel afraid, like a victim.

A little bit too spiritual for me. If somone wants to go on a journey to learn all of the techniques in this book, of course, I wish them good luck, they are going to love it, but not me. At the same time I can't ignore the things that did get my attention and changed my thinking in a way, so I did like it overall.

Lastly, I appreciated the fact that there were all the practices mentioned in the book, gathered together at the end. It really felt good to go through them all once again after having read the whole content of the book.