Book Review of The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck

Synopsis in a Sentence: Dr. Peck uses case studies and evidence to guide individuals to a better life and understanding of themselves.

My Thoughts:

I don't think I'm going to rate this book with my keys as it is hard to give a self-help/inspirational book a rating. First of all, The Road Less Traveled is a non-fiction inspirational classic. I had heard about it for years before I finally decided to pick it up! I even read once that Princess Diana referred to like a Bible. Dr. Peck gives a lot of wonderful and straight forward advice on life's ups and downs...I think he and Dr. Phil should meet because they would probably become best friends haha! While some of his advice can get a little bit rambling and abstract, he still knows how to get you to really examine your own life and inspires you to make changes where needed. I thought it might be easiest to break down the main points of this book in a bulleted list so all of you can decide if it's something you'd like to add to your TBR pile or not:

• Having discipline and taking responsibility for your life leads to happiness.
• Balance is the key to a life well-lived.
• Love is the motive and energy behind all of the good things that we do.
• Laziness and indifference are the opposites of love.

This is kind of what the book is about in a nutshell. There's obviously a lot more depth and detail to it than this, with lots of case studies to back up all of his advice. I love reading case studies because you get to read about other people, their struggles and sometimes, how they are able to overcome stuff.

I have to admit that I was a little bored and confused for some of this book...but when reading the last couple of chapters, something just kinda "clicked" for me, and I understood what he was trying to say. Living a life full of love is the only way to true happiness.

Favorite quote from the book:

"To put it plainly, our unconscious is God. God within us. We were part of God all the time. God has been with us all along, is now, and always will be." from p. 281

I also love the title of this book! Does anyone know Robert Frost's poem of the same name? It was my quote in my senior yearbook of highschool!

"In a wood, two roads diverged...and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference..." ~Robert Frost

Happy reading everyone!