Review of M. Scott Peck's "The Road Less Traveled"

The Road Less Traveled is the one book that made M. Scott Peck a household name. The book-divided into sections-has the premise of defining what makes a fulfilled human being. Most of the book is based on what Peck has experienced in life and as a psychiatrist. Peck's theories of how to live a fulfilling life include discipline, love, and grace.

According to Peck, discipline is essential for emotional, spiritual, and psychological growth as a human being. There are four key aspects of discipline that Peck ventures into in The Road-delaying gratification, acceptance of responsibility, dedication to truth, and balancing.

Delaying of gratification is defined as sacrificing present comfort for future gain. This is, in fact, a cornerstone philosophy in most child psychology courses, as it is an important skill for both children and adults to learn. Most children have this skill learned by about age five, and are able to know that it is better to do homework first, so that you can play later. Unfortunately, a large number of adolescents either do not have this skill, or push it to the side. I can even admit that I am guilty of not exercising delay of gratification. For example, writing an essay or doing a homework assignment right before it is due is a commonality in my life.

Acceptance of responsibility for oneself and one's actions is a really big deal in today's society and unfortunately isn't followed by many, especially in this country! In my own humble opinion, I think this may be one of the hardest things to accomplish. So many people have an attitude that basically says, 'it's not my problem,' even though it might be. Most children, for example, will never admit to their parents that they did anything wrong, even when it's completely their fault.

Hand in hand with acceptance of responsibility is a dedication to the truth. This dedication comes about not only in word, but in actions as well. The dedication is truth is also not just avoiding lying. The idea is that if one is living under false pretenses, life will not be as fulfilling as it would be if truth was a big part of one's life.

The last aspect of the discipline theory is balancing. Balancing one's life is an important skill to have no matter what-everyone has to handle conflicting requirements of life at one point in time. M. Scott Peck also talks about an important skill to prioritize between these conflicting requirements that he calls 'bracketing.' Many people are very rigid with their lives, functioning with set patterns of behavior day after day. Peck tells of how flexibility is important in not only prioritizing tasks, but in the ability to give up something that is near and dear to a person. Without this ability to sacrifice, one will never truly grow.

The next section of Peck's book is about love. He considers love to be the driving force behind spiritual growth. One of the main ideas of this section is dispelling the myths of love. Peck considers the notion of romantic love to be a very destructive myth. This is always something that is hard for me to swallow-growing up watching romantic movies and reading books that have a little bit of romance has caused me to want a love like that. In The Road Less Traveled, it is explained that this kind of romantic love is about dependency and about "falling in love," which doesn't actually happen.

According to Peck, true love is about "extending one's ego boundaries to include another." Basically, Peck admits that love is effort. He also says that love is not a feeling, but more of an activity and an investment. Peck is clear to state that love cannot be continued with mutual dependence, but that love is actually made stronger when both people are completely independent of each other.

Peck also talks about a phenomenon he calls 'cathexis,' which is basically what attracts one person to another in the beginning. Even though cathexis is not true love, a certain amount of cathexis is necessary for one to truly love another. Love consists of what you do for another person-giving them what they need to grow.

The last section of Peck's book is about grace. Grace is defined as a great force existing outside the conscious. It is said to nurture spiritual growth in human beings. To better describe grace, Peck talks about miracles, and how human consciousness has nothing to do with miracles.

If one wants to live a truly fulfilling life, reading M. Scott Peck's The Road Less Traveled is definitely recommended by me and by countless editors around the world.