Review of Behaving Bravely

mmm17 · Post by **mmm17** » 14 Dec 2021, 18:11

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Behaving Bravely" by Anita Kanti.]

4 out of 4 stars

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Behaving Bravely: How to Mindshift Life’s Challenges is a self-help book written by Anita Kanti, with Michael Ashley. The author of this touching book is an Indian-American woman born in Belvidere, Illinois, to first-generation Indian-Americans. Based on her personal and professional experience, the author developed BRAVE, a system by which her clients could learn to better face adversity with courage, confidence, and even optimism. BRAVE is an acronym for Beliefs to Benevoliefs, Readiness, Alignment, Vision, and Engagement. Throughout the book, the author walks the reader through her life and how she dared to make a radical transformation when she reached midlife.

What I liked the most about the book was the author’s narrative of her life struggles. She had a difficult time growing up, and I enjoyed how she framed her challenging circumstances as steppingstones that helped her toward personal growth. I particularly liked how she explained that people of Asian ancestry were far less common when she was growing up than they are today. She often felt like an outsider during her childhood in all-white environments. To make matters worse, she was sexually assaulted when she was just ten years old. Sadly, as is often the case with girls that suffer sexual abuse, she never reported nor spoke openly of this tragic and scarring incident.

I also enjoyed the spiritual undercurrent of the author’s system. She discusses how numerous remarkable spiritual thinkers contributed to her philosophy, including Paramahansa Yogananda, Mahatma Gandhi, and Alan Watts. Also, her religion of my birth is Jainism, traditionally known as Jain Dharma, an ancient Indian religion whose origins date back more than 2,500 years. I greatly appreciated how she brought up its inspiring principles.

There’s also a discussion about alcoholism and its ramifications, which I thought added to the book. The author had a challenging marriage to Umesh, an IT analyst of Indian heritage who was an alcoholic who had bipolar tendencies. In their marriage, they went through a series of therapists and interventions. They even sought treatment in Bangalore, India. To try and help, the author then began to attend Al-Anon, a group for people who are worried about someone with a drinking problem.

In closing, I found nothing to dislike in this book; it seems professionally edited, for I found no mistakes in it. Hence, I rate it 4 out of 4 stars. If you enjoy self-help titles, I recommend this one; it is very much worth reading, especially if you favor structured self-improvement systems.

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Behaving Bravely
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Kaleab Wondu · Post by **Kaleab Wondu** » 20 Dec 2021, 11:31

Getting life advice from someone who struggled with different problems is very useful. Especially for people who are suffering from difficult life problems. Thanks for your review.

Sinethemba M 23 · Post by **Sinethemba M 23** » 20 Dec 2021, 17:39

The author talks about her life struggles, how difficult her life was growing up.she was sexually abused at the age of ten and that made her stronger to overcome her circumstances by being brave.