Review: Buried Alive by Eric Fisher

Synopsis (taken from Amazon)

In the book, Buried Alive, the author tells of the near-death experience of his father, who almost dies during an expedition to dig up Native American artifacts. The perspectives from all three men involved in the event are examined. Four self-help strategies are linked in practical ways to the scary event that happened on February 12th, 2000, in a rural area of Tennessee.

Through the immersive and daunting story of the near-fatal accident, the author shows how challenging circumstances can shed light on strategies for dealing with life’s challenges. Through an intense story about survival and recovery, you’ll gain practical suggestions that will help you find increased awareness, fortitude, and direction.

The sections discussed in the book are as follows:

1. How to find balance in particular areas, which includes perfectionism, spirituality, toxicity, vulnerability, expectations, self-care, emotions, planning, open-mindedness, comparisons, and trauma.
2. The CIA acronym for personal growth: curiosity, introspection, and agency. The four principles of agency and entropy are described and explained. The importance of understanding how entropy applies to self-development.
3. Learning the different ways of connecting with yourself, others, and a local community. The blocks to connection are explored.
4. The power of the “W” word when it comes to life fulfillment, direction, and taking action.

Each chapter applies the self-help content to the true story being told in a documentary fashion. For each self-help component, practical strategies and techniques are given to the reader. The concluding chapter integrates all the content with practical, real-life scenarios.

Review

More than just a ‘self-help’ book, it wraps in the story of the author’s dad being buried alive to help drive some of the points home.  The first thing about this book that grabbed my attention was its explanation that it’s not always about choosing a side. It’s about finding balance between the two, because life is a spectrum. I also learned something new with the concept of entropy, something that had never been explained before.

One of my favourite sections was the discussion of self-worth, specifically the line, “Self-worth is a gift given to you, by you, and for you”. It’s something we often forget, and humans tend to look outside ourselves for validation when, really, self-worth starts with us.

Each chapter ends with thought-provoking questions, giving you a chance to stop, reflect, and really think about how the ideas apply to your own life. The end-of-chapter sections also do a great job of wrapping everything up.

If you enjoy a real life self-help book this is the book for you.

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