'Beyond Fear' by Dorothy Rowe

As one of my first posts on Dorothy Rowe's writings, I will begin with Beyond Fear, a book that brought me to her profound wisdom and insight, and started my journey out of the manacles of fear.

I found Beyond Fear in a local bookstore in 2004, when I was in my mid-twenties.  I had just began having "panic attacks," as they were labelled, and I was in a constant state of dread, despite how well I hid the feeling to the rest of the world.  The feelings were new to me and I had very little knowledge of human emotions, and what caused such feelings.

I had read quite a few other books before Beyond Fear but they all took the approach that fear, which they labelled as "anxiety," is a medical condition, or worse, hereditary and there is pretty much nothing that you can do about it, except manage it.  Some books even went as far to, as what I perceived to be a doomsday approach, to assert that sufferers of anxiety were doomed to depression, or even worse, to eventually take their life.  Needless to say, I found many books, before encountering Beyond Fear, to not be therapeutic and only encourge fear, rather than enable the reader to find their courage.

Upon reading the blurb at the back of Beyond Fear I was immediately captivated by Rowe's down-to-earth style and caring approach. Her writing did not sound patronising or removed from the human experience, which is how I found the other books I had encountered.  Dorothy spoke in a casual voice that illustrated exactly what I was thinking and feeling.  This was the pivotal difference for me.  She explained that my meaning structure, and how I interpreted what was happening to me, was what was causing my fears.  If I understood how I constructed these conceptual frameworks, then I had the ability to change them.

Reading Beyond Fear satisfied my need for someone to explain what was happening and how I had the tools within me to change it.  The idea that I was mostly responsible for causing my distress, and with effort and over time, I could gain the knowledge and skills to change my interpretation of my circumstances, was empowering, and I feel contributed to where I am today.