Accidental Courage: Finding Out I'm a Bit Brave After All - Hardcover

Kita, Joe

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1579544940 ISBN 13: 9781579544942

Publisher: Rodale Books, 2002

Synopsis

The author of Another Shot explains how he conquered his worst fears--from fear of flying to being alone to fear of death--discussing the various ways in which he approached his fears, his sometimes unsuccessful tries to overcome them, and his discovery of what courage really means. 25,000 first printing.

About this title

About the Author

Joe Kita is the author of Another Shot: How I Relived My Life in Less Than a Year and two other books. He is a staff writer for Men's Health magazine and has been a journalist for more than 20 years. He lives with his wife and children in southeastern Pennsylvania. He is also a motivational speaker.

From the Back Cover

"Accidental Courage is truly a unique book. Joe Kita spent a year walking toward and through 12 of his own personal hells, and he has emerged a wiser man. The good news is that we can become wiser by simply reading this intelligent, insightful, and cleverly written book."

--Thom Rutledge, psychotherapist and author of Embracing Fear

"Fear is the most basic and powerful emotion in the brain, and Accidental Courage is a powerful journey through this landscape. Joe Kita's heart and humor guide us towards creative and healthy strategies to engage and walk through our fears."

--Robert Maurer, Ph.D., associate clinical professor at UCLA School of Medicine

"In this delightfully entertaining and enlightening book, Joe Kita has won my heart and, I suspect, the heart of every other person who reads it. Be prepared...Accidental Courage may be just what you need to give you the push to change your life!"

--Susan Jeffers, Ph.D., author of Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway

Praise for Another Shot

"An oddly appealing blend of memoir, self-help, and wish-fulfillment."

--San Jose Mercury News

"Kita pulls it off with wit and aplomb."

--Publisher's Weekly

"Kita has a wry sense of humor and an understanding of human foibles. His essays run the gamut from bittersweet to ruefully funny to poignant."

--The Boston Sunday Globe

"Plimptonesque. . ."

--The Philadelphia Inquirer

From the Inside Flap

ACCIDENTAL COURAGE

Finding Out I'm a Bit Brave After All

Are you scared? Are you afraid of public speaking, heights, flying, change, or any number of inexplicable things?

You're not alone. The level of fear in this country has never been higher than it is right now. But it isn't run-through-the-streets-screaming fear. It's not terror. Rather, this new fear is quiet and relentless. It's 3:00-a.m. fear--a strange sound from who knows where, a shadow, a feeling, a dread that has you pinned to the bed, waiting, praying, wondering what's out there and whether you're next. It's as pervasive as night itself. It's the futile struggle against the unidentifiable that causes helplessness. Indeed, the majority of those with fear will never try to confront or conquer it. Instead, they'll make excuses and apologies, and just learn to live with it.

Joe Kita was like that. He was functional, successful, for all intents and purposes normal. But the older he got, the more he felt plagued by worries and fears and doubts, some of which he could barely admit to himself. He saw his future contracting instead of expanding. And he finally decided to do something about it. He gave himself one year and set out to face his 12 biggest fears--not from the safety of some psychiatrist's couch but out in the real world. His goal was to discover, once and for all, what he was so damn afraid of--the mother of all fears.

Here's a sampling of what he did.

Drove a beat-up wreck in a demolition derby Engaged in an airborne dogfight Chased twisters in Tornado Alley Served as a target for an aging knife thrower Performed a stand-up-comedy routine before a raucous audience Spent the night with Lizzie Borden Went into solitary confinement at an abandoned prison

From the fear of ghosts to the fear of death, from the fear of flying to the fear of being alone, from the fear of public speaking to the fear of car accidents and even the fear of God, Joe Kita faced it all. His is a journey of humiliation and heroism, of embarrassment and enlightenment, of absurdity and, ultimately, appreciation. It is a tale that is as full of wisdom as of wit, as profound as it is, at times, pathetic. You will be fascinated, and at the same time, you will find inspiration, laughter, and courage.

Edition details

• Publisher: Rodale Books
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1579544940
• ISBN 13: 9781579544942
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256