Revised - Review: Peaks and Valleys

Ever so often I read a book that makes me step back and analyze my current situation. In my opinion, this book is timeless. I wish I had been given the chance to read this book a year ago when I was in my undergraduate program. It would have been perfect for the times when I felt complacent and thought my valley was endless.

The book was about a young man who wondered if his life could be better. He lived in a valley and did not like the way his life had been going or treating him. Everyday he wondered if the peak he dreamed of climbing would be better then his current valley. After venturing to the peak, he ran into an old man who spoke with him about his problems with work, family, friends, and the girl he cared for. Before the old man bestowed his knowledge of peaks and valleys upon the young man, he made him promise that if it was helpful to him he would share the knowledge with others.

Without giving away the whole plot, the young man learned about the peak and valleys methods from the old man so that he could apply it to his life. After learning the methods, he still ventured back into his valley. The methods worked, but his peak ended abruptly leaving the young man in a valley. He wondered what he was doing wrong, so he traveled back to see the old man. This time he kept a notebook with him to document everything he learned. The old man welcomed him with open arms and bestowed more wisdom on him.

The young man wondered what it looked like at the even higher peak in the distance. So, he set out to scale it. After this, the young man applied everything he learned to his life in the valley. He later became successful by managing his good times wisely. The young man eventually took the place of the old man, and spread his knowledge of peaks and valleys to the young lady who was mentioned in the prelude. She in return shared with the young man who was also from the prelude of the book, and the cycle continued spreading as he told others.

After reading this book, I must say the author did a substantial job in developing the theme and storyline. He was also creative in his establishment of the prelude with the man and women conversing in the coffee shop. This well-organized prelude helped to setup the main theme. When it comes to understanding the author’s intent for this book, I believe it was written to help individuals who feel the trials and tribulations they go through can be overcome. It is all about how you look at the situations you are in as well as how you prepare for them. I relate to the quote, “You change your Valley into a Peak, when you find and use the good, that is hidden in the bad time” in a personal way. After hurricane Katrina hit my life changed forever. My family lost everything, and all that remained was the frame of our house. This showed me that anything you work for could be taken away in the blink of an eye. Yet, adversity made me stronger, because I realized that I needed to cherish my life and follow my dreams. After this disaster, I have never taken anything for granted. This difficult time is something I will always remember. Though my family has now rebuilt our house, I will always remember all the hard work that had to be contributed. The other parable I relate to is “The path out of the Valley appears, when you choose to see things differently.” After graduation I applied to a couple of graduate programs. Each school I applied to complimented my GPA, my letters of recommendation, and my resume. The resume showcased different aspects of the business field in which I had experience, and by getting an MBA degree my chances to achieve success later in life would increase. My package was flawless with the exception of my GMAT score. Without much preparation, I took the test and did not score incredibly well. I enlisted a tutor and studied harder for the next test. While I performed better than the first time, I still did not reach my high expectation. At this point, schools that had constantly kept me informed via email stop returning my emails. I asked every graduate advisor what I could do to raise my score. I continued to get the answer “study more”. Then my valley turned into a peak. While talking to a childhood friend, she mentioned that a graduate faculty member suggested she attend a Kaplan class. She later informed me that Kaplan taught GMAT classes. After researching the class and realizing the expenses, I made the decision to enroll. I took out the necessary amount out of my savings to sign up for the course knowing it would help me reach my goal, and it did.

Reading this intuitive book was an eye opening experience. It makes one realize the situations that he’s going through can get better, because it just depends on how you look at it. As I read this book it showed me that the valley I had been going through was in fact not a valley at all. In actuality it was all about how I was looking at the situation. Once I stepped back to look at my situation positively rather than in a negative light my valley turned into a peak.I realized that the valley I was in was not really a setback but a comeback. This in turn helped me to realize, that a certain person was not who I originally thought they were. When I thought about it like this it I became elated. Since I learned and experienced this now rather than later on in the friendship my valley turned into a peak instantly. “You can have fewer bad times when you appreciate and manage your good times wisely.” This statement in my opinion implies to a wide audience that if you stay humble while you are happy and having success then you can better appreciate and manage your good times. Yet, the same way you came into your happiness, your success, and your peak you can lose it just as quickly.

Ultimately, this book was superbly written. The way the author compared normal problems in a person’s life such as work, family, relationships and friends to peaks and valleys led me to believe that the author spent time developing the concept. This book is a success in a variety of categories including writing style methods, themes, creativity, and ability to relate to everyday problems typical people go through. It is a book that could and should be used as a self-help guide for individuals struggling to reach their peaks and overcome their valleys.This book really touched me in a way, because it caused me to self reflect on all the valleys I went through in life. Then, I thought about how many of these I could have turned into peaks. If I had managed “my good times wisely” and if “I had turned my bad times into good times” then the valleys I was in would have turned into peaks.