Less Chosen Path

By Başak Mireli

Living with Courage - The Road Less Traveled - LR

A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Evolution

- The book, by: Dr. M. Scott Peck

Do you ever feel that our concept of time in Western culture is problematic? Life demands more from us, while at the same time filling our time with speed, anxiety and work. Lately I have been trying to solve the riddle of time by reading the writings of physicists and thinkers.

I came up with the idea of choosing a book each month that would be useful to you. We can also continue this mutually through my Facebook page. You can also suggest the book of the month. For the first month, I chose a classic book in my field: The Road Less Traveled by Dr. M. Scott Peck: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Evolution by Dr. M. Scott Peck. Published in 1978, this was Peck's first book; it has been translated into 20 languages and sold millions of copies worldwide.

“The best thing is to accept that there are difficulties in life and deal with them. When you do so, you can be sure that you will be rewarded: The reward for accepting and solving your problems is emotional, psychological and spiritual health.”

Brief Notes About the Author Dr. Morgan Scott Peck
Scott Peck Between 1936 and 2005, he was an American psychiatrist. He had difficulties at a prestigious boarding school and was asked to be institutionalized at the age of 15. Later, after attending another school, he went to university, graduated as a doctor and psychiatrist, joined the army and served in different positions, including a tour in Japan, and then opened a private practice.

Notes and Quotations about the Book

The book talks about the many things you can do to live a fulfilling life.

Adopting the Buddha's perspective, Peck believes that life is not inherently easy. We are constantly confronted with problems, which can take different forms: dilemmas, decisions that require us to take risks, conflicting obligations. Instead of facing and solving them, most people try to avoid going through these troublesome processes, even to their own detriment.

It is best to accept that there are difficulties in life and deal with them accordingly. When you do so, you can be sure that you will be rewarded: The reward for accepting and solving your problems is emotional, psychological and spiritual health.

Believing that the purpose of life is to better understand yourself and to grow spiritually has its rewards. You can benefit spiritually, emotionally, psychologically, even materially.

Peck says: “Mental and spiritual development can only come through problems.”

Discipline: A Basic Toolkit for Solving Life's Problems

Confronting our problems is the only way to give meaning to our lives and the only way to grow spiritually. Avoiding confrontation is what destroys our mental health. Peck suggests disciplinary techniques to systematically overcome life's difficulties:

1. Do the things you dislike before the activities you enjoy. Do some work before you start having fun. But make sure you manage your time properly so that you have time to have fun every day. This skill requires controlling your impulses and protects you from addictions.

2. Take responsibility for your behavior. Some people feel too much responsibility for everything that goes wrong in their lives. Others avoid taking full responsibility for their own behavior and decisions and blame their troubles on fate.

Peck says: “The reason we have difficulty taking responsibility for our behavior is the desire to avoid the distress that comes from the consequences of that behavior.”

3. Update your worldview with new experiences and information. We all have the potential to be introspective, to think about our own behavior and to have the courage to listen to people who disagree with us personally.

4. Maintain balance. Balance is the discipline of discipline. It is to develop an increasingly flexible attitude towards life. You must learn to use these tools in a way that enhances life, not in a way that detracts from it.

Neurotic and Real Distress

The difficulties we face first-hand in life Peck calls “real adversity”. If we fail to face our share of adversity and try to avoid it, we experience even more adversity, which Peck calls “neurotic adversity”.

I hope you never get yourself into neurotic distress. If you choose to use the disciplinary tools suggested by Scott Peck to overcome your real troubles, you can ultimately achieve spiritual, emotional, psychological and financial relief.