Erika Hall
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There is an Alternative is a book written for women everywhere. It dips in and out of the
author's personal experiences, then intersperses these vignettes with enthusiastic encouragement
to show them that they CAN change their circumstances if they really want to, just like she did.
It is a short book that sticks to the point of the exercise and leads the reader to the conclusion that
it IS possible to become who they really want to be. It shows how to change their life for the
better; how to be assertive without being aggressive, indeed, how to deal with aggression from
other people—and how to find one's true potential without feeling guilty. It doesn't promise it
will be easy but it does explain how liberated, satisfied and just simply wonderful it will feel once
empowerment is achieved. This book is designed to help women to realize that there really IS an
alternative if they are in any way undermined, under intolerable pressure or simply wish to fulfill
their rightful destiny. Everyone has a right to be who they really are is the message, stated with
fervor.
Erika Hall is a writer, consultant, mother, sister and divorcee. Now retired from her somewhat
unusual lifestyle which involved living in many different countries, she is concentrating on
helping other women to achieve what she has been able to do, that is, to become who they WANT
to be. English by birth, she now lives in southern Spain in a personally renovated old cottage,
with three dogs and 'Mr. Cat'. She has no landline telephone but a satellite Internet connection
for her computer makes up for that as all things technical fascinate her. In her spare time she
trades stocks on NASDAQ (but only in a very small way) and otherwise, enjoys being able to just
"be".
Can we ever achieve true happiness? And what, indeed, is that? In my view it is feeling real
contentment, without any lasting anger to anything or anyone and knowing that you have stopped
worrying about any regrets, since you acknowledge that even if you do have them, you can do
nothing about them anyhow. It almost sounds like a comatose state of mind when you think
about it! Or having put yourself into a trance, meditative or hypnotic perhaps! But in reality, it is
having come to terms with life, I believe; it is becoming who you really are and marrying those
two immensely important factors together so that you are as one.
Some people never get there—some do—but with such little effort they have no idea how lucky
they are... and then there is the vast majority of us. Most of us in this latter group either settle for
less than we maybe should, but a few do take control of the situation and achieve their goals.
I am a woman who did just that and in this publication I have written about what happened during
my own empowerment process and the conclusions it brought home to me, thus I have tried to
outline them as an encouragement to other women with the idea that if I can do it then they surely
can too.
Basically, I now really believe that only your personal fears are holding you back from doing
whatever it is you really want to achieve you know—overcome those, that is, the FEARS, first
and foremost, and you will find you are able to tackle the problem(s) behind them. You do NOT
have to carry on doing anything that conflicts with your principles or makes you uncomfortable.
Please believe that.
So many of us end up with little or no respect for ourselves, doing something or being in a
situation which is demeaning to our real capabilities and we usually just accept it as 'our lot'. It
becomes a destructive cycle because somehow, it is easier to do nothing about changing things,
even when you recognize that your true potential has not been realized and when you know in
your heart that you are not happy. For one thing you possibly don't know who to turn to, or don't
have a suitable friend to talk things over with—and then a dozen other excuses come to mind why
you should just stay put, even if you have thought of getting out of your present unsatisfactory
circumstances, I know all too well.
