Fearproof Your Life

Fearproof Your Life: How to Thrive in a World Addicted to Fear
Joseph Bailey
Conari Press, 2007

I met Joe Bailey in 1997 when he gave a workshop at Discover U in Seattle, based on a book he had recently co-authored with the now late Richard Carlson, called Slowing Down to the Speed of Life: How to Create a More Peaceful, Simpler Life from the Inside Out. The concepts presented in the book and workshop (that we all have innate mental health, and we can choose our attitudes) made a major positive impact on my life at the time, but after the passage of ten years and due to some recent unexpected and unwanted changes in my life, I found myself desperately in need of something like a Joe Bailey booster shot. I was delighted to discover his brand-new book Fearproof Your Life: How to Thrive in a World Addicted to Fear, which has put me back on the right track again.

Bailey believes that fear is the basis of all addictions, and that the world is suffering from an epidemic of fear, which is why addictions are so rampant. Even the fear itself is an addiction. He also believes that there is a Universal Intelligence, and that each of us has a “true Self,” which is “one with the Universal Intelligence,” making us divine in nature. What we need to be able to do is to access that true Self, in order to turn our fearful and negative thoughts into a state of peace, calm, hope, and happiness.

Bailey shows that our thoughts are not real in and of themselves, that we are the creator of our thoughts, and therefore the creator of our feelings, experiences, and reality; most importantly, we can choose our reactions. Fear and worry are the ego spinning its wheels over thoughts (the familiar “busy mind”), instead of dismissing them and trusting to the innate wisdom and mental health that our true Selves possess. When we let the ego take over, it brings with it judgment, analyzing, striving, expecting, guilt, stress, and fear. We can reclaim our true Selves by listening to our intuitions, trusting in ourselves, reflecting quietly, and choosing peace of mind, our natural state of being. Bailey also emphasizes that neither the past nor the future are real, that only the present is real, and that the present is what we need to live in, rather than regretting the past or worrying about the future.

This is an incredibly simple but powerful approach, something of a cross between psychology, spirituality, and quantum physics. It’s hard to explain, but it can transform your life if you follow it. Bailey’s explanation is easily understandable and practical, taking the reader step-by-step through the theory to the practical aspects. But it is also inspiring, as evidenced in the summation he makes at the end of the book, “Ultimately, we are all here on Earth to discover and express the essence of our Being. Through fear and our addiction to it, we lose our awareness of our true Selves and become prisoners of our ego-based thought systems. Now is the time for all of us to become free of the fear that has kept us from joy, from creativity, from peace, from the courage to be honest. It is time to do the inspired thing, which is to live our life’s purpose.” Joe Bailey can show you how.