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Fear Bravely

Do you hate to be afraid?

After reading this book you will definitely look at this emotion differently and realize how fear can be a blessing! Former war correspondent Hesna Al Ghaoui explores fear from so many – physiological, psychological, social and cultural – aspects than noone before, through powerful stories of her own and of exceptional people she’s met from all over the world. Originating from two countries, Hungary and Syria, both concerned about fear due to political and social issues, she argues that fears shape our modern societies on more levels than ever, nevertheless, fear can be a blessing and serve as fuel to reveal our true capabilities and reach our goals.

“Are you that short in reality? And yet you are not afraid in these dangerous countries?”

This question was aimed at me a hundred times in the past fifteen years, after I had come home from a TV shooting in a war-torn region. My height has never caused me any self-worth issues. However, I just couldn’t understand how anyone can think that I am not afraid in a war zone. Of course I am! Like everyone else would be. But when I replied this to the unsuspicious questioners, I saw a surprising response on their face: disappointment. As if I had stolen an illusion from them. And this phenomenon really caught my interest.

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK

„Hesna Al Ghaoui's remarkable new book, the Fear Bravely enlightens its readers about the surprising crux in understanding our human nature: FEAR!  She provides a spell-binding account of how fear operates in all of us – paradoxically both for our betterment as well as to our detriment. My advice: Buy this treasure trove of invaluable insights today; read it tomorrow; be enriched intellectually and personally forever.”
— Philip Zimbardo, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Stanford University, who carried out the famous Stanford Prison Experiment
“Is there a raison-d’être for such a book in a fear dominated world, terrified of failures, which tells about a fake sense of security in a wise and calm manner? Which tells about the culture of shortage, and about people, who understand and use their own fears, while holding up a relentless mirror for all of us? Is there a raison-d’être for such an author, who hasn’t been truly intimidated by neither external nor internal powers, as she is clearly aware of the fact that this ancient human emotion, called fear belongs to each of us. I say, there is. What’s more, there is nothing but a raison-d’être for such a book and such an author. Hesna Al Ghaoui’s book prepares us to confront our fears and liberates us – tell me what else do we need nowadays?”
— Kriszta D. Tóth author-journalist, chief editor of WMN.hu
“I thought that it was a fact book, meanwhile it turned out that it is a scientific work in the field of psychology, with subjective experiences, with the description of touching moves and clinical experiments, interviews. I don’t know if anyone has ever dealt so thoroughly and deeply with fear as a phenomenon depicted by psychology. It is a great, moreover staggering book, which has affected me with the power of revelation, it is simply incredible.”
— József Kulcsár senior Hungarian journalist and author
 

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Hesna Al Ghaoui

For more than a decade she worked as a foreign-editor, reporter and a war correspondent for the Hungarian Television, and has reported from more than twenty countries, among them several combat zones. Primarily, she specialized on the the Middle East, as her father has Syrian origins. Her Mother is Hungarian, her parents met at the Medical University of Debrecen. Later the family settled down in Salgótarján,

Northern- Hungary and Hesna grew up there, too. She pursued a bilingual secondary school and also studied in the US for a year with the help of a scholarship, then she continued her studies at the Faculty of Law in ELTE University. She also attended higher education in Tunisia where she studied Arabic language.

After obtaining her degree of law she started to work as a foreign affairs journalist at the Hungarian Television. She received several awards, twice she has been given a Kamera Hungaria Award for best report and in 2011 she was given the prestigious Prima Primissima Award in press cathegory. In 2014 she received the László Kovács Media Award. Her reports (shot in Gaza and in Northern-Iraq) made it into the finals of the prestigious Montecarlo Television Festival twice. In 2017 she received the ENAM-Amerigo Media Award. She also made a documentary series called BABEL – The World with Hesna, which aired 37 episodes in the Hungarian Television, focusing on exceptional life stories from all over the world.

She is author for three books: On the Land of Wars – about her experiences as a war correspondent, Fear Bravely – about how to transform fear into fuel in our everyday life, and Holli, the Hero – a children’s book, also about transforming fear into positive energy. Besides being a reporter she also undertook a role to be the goodwill ambassador of the Millennium Development Goals. Currently, she is the ambassador and enthusiastic supporter of Heroes Square Initiative. She is regularly invited to give presentations at universities and conferences, mainly about her war correspondent job and about the theme of fear.


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