I’ve been reading “The Road Less Traveled”, by M. Scott Peck. It is a wealth of information. I can understand why there are 5+ million copies in circulation!
On page 56 of his book M. Scott Peck discusses the “cheater’s life”:
“It is therefore right and proper that we should avail ourselves of any legitimate shortcut to personal growth. The key word, however, is “legitimate.” Human beings have almost as much of a tendency to ignore legitimate shortcuts as they do to search out illegitimate ones. It is, for instance, a legitimate shortcut to study a synopsis of a book instead of reading the original book in its entirety in preparation for an examination for a degree. If the synopsis is a good one, and the material is absorbed, the essential knowledge can be obtained in a manner that saves considerable time and effort. Cheating, however, is not a legitimate shortcut. It may save even greater amounts of time and, if successfully executed, may gain the cheater a passing mark on the exam and the coveted degree. But the essential knowledge has not been obtained. Therefore the degree is a lie, a misrepresentation. Insofar as the degree becomes a basis for life, the cheater’s life becomes a lie and misrepresentation and is often devoted to protecting and preserving the lie.”
I want to live my life knowing that I accept change (aka challenges) as an opportunity for personal growth. I will look to gain an understanding of what it is that I am to learn from that situation and realize that it’s just another brick in the wall.
It’s a lot easier said than done. It takes work to live legitimate.
Anyone else hear the word’s too legit and think of Hammer pants? lol 🙂
A Beautiful Mess 