To quote from page 74:
"All we are asking is that you open up to the possibility that your anxious thoughts, images and feelings may serve an important purpose in your life. You may not see this purpose from where you are right now. In fact, it is next to impossible to see any importance behind anxiety and fear when you're focused on getting yourself out of your anxiety cocoon."
I can't buy into that. I cannot see any purpose to having these things that are ruining and restricting my life and if there is a purpose then I don't want it. No thanks, keep it please. If there is a purpose to feeling suffocated and shaking all over when all you want to do is sit down and play with your kids or relax watching TV then I fail to see what that is.
Last night I was watching the Jonathan Ross show, on BT Vision Replay, and was listening to Stephen Fry talk about the Kakapo. The parallels were interesting. New Zealand has a few Kakapo left. Way back when there were no predators so these birds evolved with no fear but adversely into fat, flightless birds- some would say lazy. This made them easy prey but not a problem as there were no predators. Then predators were introduced, by man unsurprisingly, and they were all but wiped out as they had no fear and were easy pickings. Now here I can see why fear is a much needed ally.
But I still cannot buy into the theory in general. That is rational fear. Its the irrational that annoys me. That explains why we have the fight or flight mechanism built in. That does not explain why I cannot just sit on a sofa without fearing I am going to become incapacitated due to this mechanism. As I said I don't want it- thanks.
