Now as a grandfather and we'll known inspirational speaker, I've revisited this story again on audiobook and was delighted to hear it throughout narrated by the author.Have you seen Peaceful Warrior? It’s a pretty simple movie, and it’s full of lessons.
My son the eldest went on to buy and read the whole stories, which I hadn't realised existed. By now I'd forgotten most of the tale but remembered its essence had truly moved me. So much so that, once I became a dad, I gifted this book to each of my children as they entered young adulthood. But whenever it was, it inspired me hugely. I'm not sure if I was in my teens or 20s - was it before or during my time as an international rainbow Warrior leading campaigns that time and again succeeded in turning whaling fleets away from their prey, and in halting old growth deforestation etc. I first read this novel as a very young man. Goal is to be vulnerable to life and love, NOT invulnerable. Enlightenment is a realization, not an attainment. Paradox, humor and change are the only rules. What you know as you will be dead someday. Plato's cave, we are all a part of the consciousness continuum. Happiness finds you, only after surrender. Birth of the mind is the death of the senses.
You've spent your live learning how to achieve, not to be happy. Stop being superior in ordinary standards.
Philosophers' rock: there are no unimportant moments. Choose when, where and how to act without the expectations of others. The sadness is that most people do not live. The priest who thinks abut praying while lovemaking, and vice versa. Making mistakes at full attention is better Tha not making mistakes with a trembling spirit. Move emotions up that chain, then convert to action and let go. A must read for any student, young or old. Certainly I'll come back to Warrior again in the future. I took scratch notes as I worked through this book.
Millman is far from being annoying, distracting or any other qualities of a poor narrator. Not the best narrator-the publisher could have found someone better from a pure voice acting perspective-but I appreciate a book like this being read by the author. The ending gets a little too fantastical (meeting Soc in the middle of the woods the random college girl in Ohio just-so-happens to be his future wife), but it's a story so you have to wrap the plot up somehow. (Ironically it was a female friend of mine who was a big fan of Warrior, and pointed me to this book.) The fantasy elements of the book are largely enjoyable for the purposes of getting messages across. His candor about sexual urges, depression and failed relationships is important-"men don't talk about this stuff," but really should. The message of "you've learned how to achieve, but not how to be happy" rings loud and true not only for me, but for most of modern Western society I wager. While I am not a world-class gymnast like the author, I am a local-class distance runner (age group awards, Boston Marathon finishes) and found a great role model in the author. And what messages there are! The character of Socrates is just terrific I have no doubt the author has nothing but pure love for this man (along with every other person, per his teachings of course).
Much like Dan in the book however, I don't think it all stuck-as I've read it again multiple times in the past year, I'm now a little more ready for the messages of the book. I first read this book 20 years ago, and fell in love with it. I don't normally take the time to write reviews of the hundreds of audiobooks I have read, but I feel very strongly about this one Without challenging religious beliefs, the book can lead you to look at how you live, how you interact with others, and to think carefully about all aspects of your life - from breathing to eating, to exercise, to how you look at the world every minute of the day Read it, think about it, then read it again. Eventually I came to the conclusion that it really doesn't matter how much or little was fact - The basic point of the book is to guide the reader to a philosophy that is aligned to the world around them instead of living one that is opposed to natural order. I initially made the mistake of trying to figure out which parts of the story were claimed to have actually happened vs which parts were just there to illustrate a point. At this point, I have read, and re-read this book enough times to know most of it by heart - not just the main story line which is pretty simple, but the lessons contained within the story that are really what the book is all about.