The Road Less Traveled
    A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth
M. Scott Peck, M.D.

The Case of Theodore

- Ted was 30, and a hermit
    - Lived in cabin in woods
    - Terrible problem in decision-making: couldn't even make small decisions
    - "Life seems to be an insurmountable problem"
    - Global snobbishness: found the world and all that was in it to be in poor taste
- Senior year in high school, he is deacon in church
    - Girlfriend rejects him
    - He never goes to church again
    - "I just became uninterested in religion"
- All of life seemed to him a maelstrom of death and suffering, danger and savagery

- During hurricane in Florida, he walked out on pier
    - Wave washed him off, then washed him back on
    - "I guess I feel I was fortunate"
- Whenever anything bad happened, he blamed God and got angry
    - But whenever anything good happened, he attributed it to luck
- He began working on appreciating the good and beauty in life
    - Accepting the necessity of suffering and embracing paradoxical nature of existence
- As a 10 yr old, family took away everything that he was enthusiastic about
    - Suppressed his enthusiasm
   
- Eventually became a minister

During childhood, Ted punished for being enthusiastic, suppressed his enthusiasm.  He came to see the world as a terrible place.  Through therapy, he worked at becoming enthusiastic about the world again, and went on to become a minister.