Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder

Huffington reflects on how her classical education in Athens, Greece, taught her to view life as a learning experience. She turns to Athena, who represented numerous ideals from wisdom and strength to pragmatism and intellect, as a source of inspiration for women, arguing that wisdom can liberate individuals from unfulfilling modern metrics of success (money and power), facilitating connection and love instead. She also explores the myth of Icarus as a cautionary tale for what happens when one doesn’t pay attention to warning signs or is excessively proud. Huffington again turns to ancient wisdom when she quotes Marcus Aurelius, who tells his readers that everything that happens in life is instructive. 

Huffington reflects on her divorce, describing it as a challenging and transformative period in her life. She acknowledges that it was a painful process but highlights the growth and self-discovery that emerged from it. She discusses how her relationship with her husband was far from over after the divorce, and “like any relationship, it requires work and care and attention” (120). Huffington shares personal anecdotes about strengthening relationships and increasing emotional intelligence through tales of family vacations (with her ex-husband included) and navigating her daughter Christina’s drug addiction.