Books That Will Inspire Your Mind
Although I have never really been into self help books, I decided some time ago that my mindset needed definite improvement. So I started reading some inspirational books by many different authors, but I have to say that probably the most influential have been the Peaceful Warrior series by Dan Millman.
Even though these are basically novels, excepting that they were originally inspired by a true meeting by Dan with the character Socrates, they have such an easy to understand vein of truth running through them.
It is the story of a young athlete Dan whose chance meeting with an old man, whom he calls Socrates, leads him on a voyage of discovery. Truth is mixed with fiction as he finds new mentors in distant lands always learning more on his spiritual quest.
I found in these books many ideas that are written about by other authors, but in the Peaceful Warrior series I discovered insights that were written in such a way that they stayed in the mind even when the book was put down.
One of the most relevant points Dan Millman makes is that we have a choice in life and that we must take responsibility for our choices. In so many situations we are too ready to blame others for what has happened to us, but in most cases, certainly as an adult, we had a choice to be in that particular place at that particular time.
One of his quotes I love is 'The past and future are nice places to visit, but we don't want to live there'. So many of us dwell in the past and will not let it go or all we can think about is what we will do in the future and in doing so forget about the present. If sometimes we can just stop and take in what is going on around us now we would be a lot happier and content. As he has quoted 'The more we bring our attention to this moment, the more we become in touch with reality, because it's the only moment of reality. The rest is either memory or imagination'.
I admire Dan Millman in his quest to become a peaceful warrior and feel that if we could achieve that for ourselves it would lead to a much more balanced life. In his book Wisdom of the Peaceful Warrior, he takes key passages from his original and answers the many questions that have arisen from them. We can all learn from his insight into life and even death which if studied should lead to the inspired mind and inner peace that we all aspire to.
