Dr. Peck, discusses the attributes that — in his opinion — make for a fulfilled human being, based largely on his experiences as a psychiatrist and person. He also encourages us to confront our problems which would enable us to reach a higher level of self-understanding.
He
subdivides his “wisdom” into three parts:
discipline, love, and grace.
***
Discipline
He
describes four aspects of discipline:
- Delaying gratification
- Accepting personal responsibility
- Dedicating oneself to truth (both in word and deed)
- Balancing and handling conflicting desires and necessities
Love
Many
mistakenly think that love is a feeling; it is not. Love is an action — not a feeling.
- One must put effort into loving. Love takes work.
- Love takes courage — because moving out of yourself, in the face of fear, takes courage.
- Therefore, the action of love takes work and courage.
- When we love another, we give that person our attention; we attend to that person’s growth and well-being.
- We exercise our attention by listening. To do this well, listening requires work.
- Therefore, true listening is love in action.
***
There’s
much more to the book, but I want us to stop here and really reflect on this
point.
True
listening is love in action…
Therefore, stop
whatever you’re doing and truly listen to your loved ones…
.
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