Survival signals that protect us from violence.

   To most of us, human violence seems unpredictable. But in The Gift of Fear Gavin de Becker explains the motivation of violent and abusive people, and he offers wise advice on how to eliminate this risk from our lives.

   The Gift of Fear is a book about the entire range of violence: stalkers, men who hurt women, disgruntled employees, child abuse, and more...  It has become the bible of self-protection from domestic violence, stalking, date rape, physical assault, and workplace mayhem.

   The book is the perfect example of the principle "to be forewarned is to be forearmed." Wayne & Tamara highly recommend this book.

From The Gift of Fear:

--"Intuition is always right in at least two important ways: 1.) It is always in response to something. 2.) It always has your best interest at heart. Unlike worry, it will not waste your time."

--"The first time a woman is hit, she is a victim and the second time, she is a volunteer. Thousands of cases have made it clear to me that getting away safely is wiser than trying to change the abusive husband."

--"Terribly unhealthy families damage children in many ways, but one of the saddest is the destruction of the child’s belief that he has purpose and value…

"The way circus elephants are trained demonstrates this well: When young, they are attached by heavy chains to large stakes driven deep into the ground. They pull and yank and strain and struggle, but the chain is too strong, the stake too rooted.

"One day they give up and from that day forward they can be 'chained' with a slender rope. When this enormous animal feels any resistance, though it has the strength to pull the whole circus tent over, it stops trying. Because it believes it cannot, it cannot."

The toll free phone number for the National Domestic Violence Hotline is
1-800-799-SAFE. Their website is www.NDVH.org.