Love Is Letting Go of Fear, Third Edition Paperback – December 28, 2010

I was reading the reviews that gave this book one or two stars and I thought that they were rating it poorly because they felt mislead and did not find that their lives were transformed by reading it. I say books cannot transform our lives, that is up to us. Not everyone will like this book or find that it serves any purpose in their life and that is okay, they will find another message in another way and like each of us, will heed or ignore it, as is human nature. I found this book quite by accident about nine years ago, when I was in a bookstore killing time waiting for a friend. I was not looking for a "self-help" book, I was just looking. I had recently begun a new relationship and since fear of loving is something I am familiar with, I picked it up from the shelf. It was not what I expected. I had heard about and was intrigued by A Course in Miracles but given my short attention span, I was not confident I would get through all 365 lessons. I am the person who says "just bullet point it for me". So given that this book was 160 pages (with lots of pictures), I figured I could read it quickly and I was right. This book would bullet point A Course in Miracles to 12 easy lessons, yay! They are simple but following them does take constant practice. But let me tell you that there is nothing revelational in this book, it is not an intellectual study of love and fear, and it will not replace your fear with love. It is simply a small primer that has served to remind me of what I can focus on to be happier, peaceful and kinder. Well I read the book and there were a lot of things that made sense so I started to practice the lessons, which went well in most areas of my life, unfortunately the one area I never seemed able to apply these lessons is on the roads. I yell and swear and spew such awful language that lots of people would prefer that there children not ride in the car with me. People just would prefer that their child's vocabulary not include so many epithets and colorful adjectives. The best I have been able to do is catch my self after the rant and well, let's just say it is a work in progress. I have given away a half dozen copies over the last nine years; only when I thought that the message was timely for them but it is not for everyone. It is a book that I have found delivers a message that is different depending on what is going on in my life at the moment. And there are times when it helps and comforts me and and times that I just cannot believe that I ever found comfort in it. Why five stars, then? Because even when I have I thought the message trite or downright stupid, I've never felt neutral about it: and it usually means that I am just not ready to hear the message. My fears sometimes are holding me back and until I am ready to risk letting it go, I am just not ready. But somehow I know that it probably will serve it's purpose again at some point. I no longer keep a paper copy of this book, every one I have ever had has been given away so now it is on my Kindle and I can banish it from my sight when it is not delivering its message.

Good advice and easy to read

This deceptively simple book has been a powerful aid to me.Gerald Jampolsky has been able to do what no other author before him seemed able to do. He has helped me to move from a theoretical understanding of what it takes to achieve peace to actually EXPERIENCING peace.Even David R. Hawkins, whose writing I value very highly, did not have the effect on me that Jampolsky did.The key, which I finally GOT from Jampolsky, is that peace is a CHOICE. He says that, to achieve peace, you have to make peace your SINGLE GOAL. Once you’ve chosen peace as your single goal, you have to make forgiveness your SINGLE FUNCTION.Forgiveness previously was very difficult for me, virtually impossible in fact. But eventually, as they say in Alcoholics Anonymous, I got so sick and tired of being sick and tired that I finally was willing to let go.Once I said, “I can’t stand this anymore,” and decided that I wanted peace more than anything else, I found it surprisingly easy to do what it took to get it.I am doing the daily exercises in this book, and I’m feeling happy. I do have moments when I slip back into one negative emotion or another. But, as soon as I’m aware that has happened, I remind myself of the current day’s exercise. I find that I bounce back to being happy again very quickly.This book is a one-size-fits-all aid for any so called “problem.” I find it helps right across the board.If you want to supplement Jampolsky’s generic book with advice that’s tailored to a specific issue, I can recommend “Healing and Recovery” by David R. Hawkins. There you will find a menu from which to choose. If you find just one of Hawkins’ stand-alone chapters helpful, it’s worth getting your hands on his book.But, back to “Love is letting go of fear.” To repeat my title, don’t be fooled by this book’s apparent simplicity. I believe that, packed into its few pages, are some sophisticated concepts. Other reviewers already have drawn parallels with “A Course in Miracles.” I also see parallels with Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity (Jesus, The Cloud of Unknowing, Brother Lawrence spring to mind), Taoism, Judaism (e.g., Hillel), Islam and some New Age teachings.As many people have pointed out, there are no new spiritual ideas. The fundamental concepts were expounded hundreds, even thousands, of years ago. Yet, from time to time, a contemporary teacher comes along to express the basic ideas in an idiom that we can understand.For me, Jampolsky has been the clearest voice yet.

This book motivates the reader to look inward. How can outside things, people, activities make a person 'happy' or content to the extent such notions even exist? Answer: They cannot. This comes from within.NOTE: This book starts on page 19.There is aPREFACEAUTHOR'S NOTEFOREWARDINTRODUCTIONThen it actually starts ..just saying

The author presents good evidence that we have choice in our responses to our environment. His presentation is void of Christian constructs. However, letting go of fear is a journey, not a destination. I would argue that certain fear is a natural, healthy emotion for preservation. Overall, the book has an amount of merit for many human interactions.