When I first picked this book up, I didn’t know what to expect. I’m not a big fan of the self-help types of books, and this book isn’t that. I think that’s the reason I kept turning the pages. I had gotten used to picking up books off shelves that promoted the “life is amazing and everything is always going to be okay” sort of mentality, and that was what I expected when I picked this one up.
What kept me reading, however, was the first two paragraphs of the first chapter (past the introduction).
Those two paragraphs read:
P1: “Life is difficult.”
P2: “This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult – once we truly understand and accept it – then life is no longer difficult. Because one it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.”
Dr Peck discusses that people have learned how to avoid problems instead of face them, and the entire book is structured around the idea of facing problems.
A Writing Vice 