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What is the meaning of "he was there" in this sentence?

It had taken him a while to talk himself out of his compunctions about this shocking notion, but by the mid-1950 he was there.

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    He had [at last] found it possible to accept that the notion was true. To 'get there' or 'be there' is often used metaphorically in the same way as 'catch on' or 'crack it'. 'Come to understand / realise'. "So, not all pre-modifiers are adjectives: 'football' in 'football manager' is an attributive noun. So is 'gas' in 'gas fire'. And 'school' in 'school dinners'.... Are you there yet? (Have you got it / the point yet?)"
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Aug 4, 2016 at 13:30
  • So nice. It was very helpful.
    – hooshmand
    Commented Aug 4, 2016 at 18:45

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It is probably visualizing his attitude (with or without compunctions about the shocking notion) as a location, and saying by mid-1950, his attitude was now in a place where he had no compunctions about the shocking notion.

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