EXPERT COUNSELS US TO TREAT EACH OTHER WITH COMPASSION DURING THESE TROUBLING AND UNSETTLED TIMES

Zen teacher and author Cheri Huber advises Americans to treat each other with compassion and kindness during these troubling times, especially with the increase in fear and anxiety bound to occur with the second anniversary of 9/11.

(Murphys, CA-May 1, 2003) We live in troubling times. Fear and anxiety permeate the air. We worry that terrorist attacks could harm those we love. Our faith in religious institutions is shaken. The economy is in a shambles. The peoples of our nation and the world are divided over the war in Iraq. The threat of SARS looms over us and our children. With the second anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy rapidly approaching, the fear and anxiety we feel is sure to intensify.

What are we really afraid of?
How can we deal with anxiety?
How can we manage to live happily in such an uncertain world?
Is our world actually any more uncertain now than it was before 9/11/01?

According to American Zen teacher Cheri Huber, called the country's foremost expert on depression and spirituality, the answers are much simpler than we think. We know what needs to be done, and we know how to do it. We just don't think of applying what we know to ourselves.

Huber declares, "We hold ourselves to a completely different standard than we hold others. With others we know that kindness, support, understanding, caring, sympathy in response to others fear and anxiety is the answer. With ourselves we often respond to our fear and anxiety by admonishing ourselves, "I shouldn't be feeling what Im feeling."

Huber concludes, "We must extend the compassion we instinctively give to others to ourselves in responding to our fear and anxiety."

Cheri Huber is the author of 16 books dealing with spiritual growth and self-awareness, including _The Fear Book_ and _The Depression Book_, both published by Keep It Simple Books. Ms. Huber founded and teaches at the Mountain View Zen Center in Mountain View, CA, and the Zen Monastery Practice Center in Murphys, CA. She regularly leads seminars and workshops throughout the United States and beyond

If you would like more information on Cheri Huber or her message concerning fear and depression, please log onto www.cherihuber.com.
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