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Help Yourself: Celebrating the Rewards of Resilience and Gratitude | 
 enlarge | Authors: David J. Pelzer, Dave Pelzer
Category: Book
List Price: $21.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  31 reviews
Sales Rank: 811218
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 218
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.6 x 5.7 x 1
ASIN: B00009NDBF
Publication Date: September 30, 1900
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
Dave Pelzer survived one of the worst child abuse cases ever recorded in the state of California. His mother, a mentally disturbed alcoholic, tortured and abused him throughout his childhood--smashing his face into a mirror, forcing him to swallow ammonia, and making him sit on a burning stove, among other heinous cruelties. In his bestselling memoirs, A Child Called It and The Lost Boy, Pelzer recounts his horrific childhood, demonstrating how inner resilience helped him survive and even become a highly caring and accomplished adult. (He was eventually selected as one of Ten Outstanding Young Americans.) Although Pelzer has a graduate degree in the school of hard knocks, he never got a chip on his shoulder. In this self-help book, Pelzer sticks with his warm and plainspoken narrative style (think Chicken Soup for the Soul) to offer advice on how to help yourself overcome adversity and let go of the past. Wisely, Pelzer often deflects attention away from his overpowering story. Instead, he offers anecdotes that pertain to more common, everyday scenarios: you feel taken advantage of at work but are afraid to quit; you have unresolved issues with your spouse. His guidance is familiar, such as never go to bed upset and tackle problems as they arise--don't let them fester. It may sound simplistic, but sometimes that's just what we need--a trustworthy ally who can dole out "been there" advice in a straightforward style. --Gail Hudson
Product Description
"A living example that all of us have the capability to better ourselves no matter what the odds . . .Dave Pelzer inspires us all." (Jack Canfield, coauthor of Chicken Soup for the Soul)
As nearly four million readers have learned from his three previous books, Dave Pelzer doesn't believe in feeling sorry for himself. Abused mercilessly by his mother as a child, Dave has taken everything that happened to him and turned it into something positive so that he can help others. Now happily married and with a child of his own, he celebrates the twin pillars of strength that saw him through his darkest hours: resilience and gratitude. And he shows how anyone can tap into these virtues to live a better and more fulfilling life.
In Help Yourself, Dave Pelzer explains how to move beyond a painful history, harmful negative thoughts, and innumerable setbacks by urging readers to take control and be accountable for their lives. Filled with his own history, as well as the personal struggles of others who have learned how to turn adversity into triumph, Help Yourself is a rousing call to readers who want real answers to real problems. Never before in paperback, it will undoubtedly join Pelzer's previous paperbacks on bestseller lists for years to come.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 26 more reviews...
 REAL, sensible help for real people April 27, 2006
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I originally got this book to skim through before giving it to a loved one who is going through a difficult time. I looked at several books written by people with a bunch of letters after their names, but ultimately selected this one since I was familiar with Dave Pelzer's childhood story. If HE can enjoy a happy, fulfilled life after everything he's been through, I figure, so can ANYONE with breath left in their body!
There are a few heart-wrenching stories of the tortures he endured as a child, but mostly, Dave encourages us to make peace with the past (and tells us HOW!), and advises us to make the most of each day, each situation, and even each hardship-using each event as a stepping stone toward the fulfillment we all seek.
Sure, there's a little rhetoric here and there in the book, but Dave is humble and admits he's not a professional writer or counselor-just a regular guy who's been there and done that. Personally, that makes me believe him even more than someone who paid their way through medical school to get all those letters behind their name.
I find his writing style to be down-to-earth, comforting, and sincere-and I could relate to more than a few of the example situations he presents in the book.
Even though I was looking for this as a help for someone else, I was finding myself highly interested, enriched, and feeling more positive about the few grim situations in my otherwise happy life! And I do think it could be a source of positive influence for anyone. No, he doesn't have all the answers-but he doesn't claim to! But he definitely steers us in the right logical direction with realistic ways to improve our situations every day.
Dave Pelzer is a courageous, triumphant man who deserves every happiness life has to offer, and we should all be glad he is so willing to share his "secrets" with all of us. May God Bless him!
So Much Courage July 25, 2005
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I couldn't believe what Dave went through as a child... I don't understand how he lived through his mother's brutal and deadly beatings.
I was amazed at all the things he lived through and went through.
This book actually made me cry several times. I didn't want to put this book down, I read both A Child Called "It" and The Lost Boy in a period of two days. I cannot wait to read the remaing three books that he has writen!!!!
A man who helped himself teaches others to June 24, 2005
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
Dave Pelzer is a household name by now . His stories of the childhood abuse he suffered, and his struggle to overcome this have been the inspiration for thousands of readers. Now he in a sense refines what he has learned into a self- help book. The main chapters of the book are built around themes like 'Get rid of the Garbage of your life ' ' Free yourself' 'Suviving a Negative Enviornment' 'Know what you want out of your real life'
'The price you pay' 'Celebrate who you are and what you have' 'Creating your own positive environment'
Each chapter is a clearly written unit containing illustrative material of fundamental principles summarized at the end.
Among some of these principles are:
Settle your problems as promptly and thoroughly as you are able.
Let go of a past you cannot change.
In the midst of fighting life's battles, relax.
Vent your frustrations in a controlled yet cleansing manner.
Have the courage to purify yourself of whatever may be holding you back.
Draw support from those you know and trust.
Consistently keep yourself in check with the environment that you create.
Don't leave your happiness to fate.
There are no guarantees for tomorrow, so appreciate all that you have and do all that you can today.
The advice seems to me by and large sound, although I would interject that it is far harder to put advice into practice than to hear it. I would also emphasize a point that Pelzer himself makes in this excellent work, 'There are no guarantees'
Still almost of us have ways in which we can improve our own lives.
I would only add from my own point- of- view that were I to write my own personal ' self- help work' it would have to include the religious dimension in a more prominent way.
The greatest help of all is in being in real relation to God.
A Must Read September 10, 2004
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
A friend/co-worker actually gave me this book. She knew that I was stressed at work among other things going on in my life. What a wonderful gift to receive. I so enjoyed reading this book. No matter how stressed you are, how bad you think you have it or how anxious you are, there is a way to come out of it. In this book Dave points that out, he actually gives examples of his own life and what he did to overcome the obstacles in his life.
Just knowing what this guy went through in his childhood and has the courage to share this with others. I have a great respect for him.
If you think your life is bad, you have tons of problems you can't possibly overcome then read this book.
This is such a well written book... June 11, 2004
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
Help Yourself gave me the chance to do what I am doing right now; fixing computers. In this book, Dave talks about the pains of his childhood, but that didn't stop him from being alive. Just because you are in a negative environment does not mean that you will succeed. In this book, he helps you that only you can make a chance, and nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it. He also credits people like Colin Powell from coming up from poverty to become the Secretary Of State (but he did not put the Secretary Of State, just the Joint Chief's of Staff because this book is kind of old). He also gives you the courage to live out your dreams, and to make yourself a better person. He writes in the book that if you can get rid of the negative crap out of your life, and try to look at the positive things, then you will be a much more happier person. The pain that he describes is real and very painful. No matter how hard he tried in school, his drunken mother always told him that he was stupid and she hated him and wished that he was dead. He survived and proved his mother wrong. The thing is that he does not hate his mother, or his father from turning a blind eye to the abuse. Dave wrote that no one should hate anybody no matter what they put you through. This is a very good book, and a real life saver.
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