Road Less Traveled

The Road Less Traveled

By: Scott M. Peck

The Road Less Traveled by Scott M. Peck was a very interesting book to examine and read as well. The book opened up with a very subtle and truthful sentence. It stated that life is difficult. This raised certain thoughts and questions to society. What is the reasoning behind our difficulties and obstacles we encounter in our lifetime? How can life become bliss and serene? Although many questions derive from such a blunt sentence, the universal question that the author was trying to instill while reading this book was what prevents us from achieving our full potential as human beings? What keeps us from solving our emotional, spiritual, and psychological problems? Scott M. Peck believes that the conceptual ideas of discipline, love, growth and religion, and finally grace all bind together to provide the answers to these questions.

While I opened the book and began to read, the first-level reply is given in the first section of the book. It is said that we as a society and human beings lack discipline. When a problem is aroused and present, we as humans fail to confront and face them. We fail to solve our personal problems because it either is too painful, difficult, a time consuming process, or we just fail to do so because of our nature. The first section of this book is a discussion of what discipline is, how a person learns or fails to learn the idea of discipline, and how it applies to the basic problems of living. The second section of the book is on love. Scott M. Peck states that if solving our problems is time consuming, difficult, and painful then the meaning of trying to solve any problems is questionable. Why do it? He raises the question: what will motivate us to produce the effort and put up with the pain? He says that the answer is love. Love for ourselves and love for others will inspire us to endure risk, pain, and distress