As he works with Socrates and tries to internalize messages about living in the moment and perceiving oneself as interconnected with all other living things, Dan finds more inner peace, more success in his athletic pursuits, and more fulfillment. Set in the 1960s, the book takes the reader on Dan’s multi-year journey toward enlightenment. Dan eventually befriends the old man and nicknames him Socrates, both because the man refuses to reveal his real name and because over time he ends up serving as Dan’s mentor and spiritual guide.
Early in his college career, he stumbles upon a filling station whose night shift is covered by an old man. The book tells the story of college student and world-class gymnast Dan, who is surprised to find his schoolwork and athletic pursuits do not fulfill him as he had expected they would. I see now that for me there is actually something to be said for self-help and positive thinking, because I have applied them to my own life and seen a return on my investment.īut the edge hasn’t completely gone away, which I realized when I picked up Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives by Dan Millman. Among other things, I now am open to reading books and watching movies on self-help and positive thinking, books and movies that my 12-year-old self would have rolled her eyes at and made fun of in an effort to get the laugh. In the intervening decades, I have softened a bit, as I have learned more about myself and as I have come to realize how powerful my thoughts are in creating my experience. (Give me a break I’m from New Jersey, and if you knew my family, you’d understand.)
I tended to have a sarcastic sense of humor and a little bit of an edge.
When I was 12, my seventh grade English teacher told me I was “cynical.” I didn’t even know what the word meant, but after I looked it up, I nodded and thought to myself that she was right.