"We all have our personal calling. Whenever we do something that fills us with enthusiasm, we are definitely following our personal legend. Each day, each hour, is a part of the good fight for our dreams. How far are you from realizing yours?"
My Thoughts
The Alchemist is definitely my favorite allegorical novel. Each 167 pages, plus the introduction from Paulo Coelho was spot on. Reading it during that time when I didn't know what to do with my life just gave me so much inspiration to never stop chasing my dreams. To keep on going, just like Santiago who searched far and wide for a treasure in the Pyramids of Egypt. A search that was fueled by a reoccurring dream that he had while herding his sheep.
The journey of Santiago can be compared to everyone's journey towards their dream. We all have dreams that we want to achieve in life but not all of us get to realize them. It's not because we aren't capable of achieving them but because most of the time, we fail to listen to the language of the world. We become too comfortable with what we are used to that we fear to embrace any changes in our lives while trying to justify this with practicality and stability. More often than not, people who chase their dreams are always faced with the fear of losing what they are used to having, even if it's something that they really didn't want in the first place. We can get easily distracted with everything that we encounter during our journey towards our personal legend. You can get drawn by money, social responsibilities and wealth but when you have your eyes on the goal, you can never truly give into those. I know, it is easier said than done but the real key is to never give up.
Santiago had to face a lot of obstacles before he reached his dream. His way wasn't a straight path. There were a lot of detours. Detours that were necessary for him to take to fulfill his personal legend. It was tough. It came to a point that he wanted to just give up and settle but the dreamer within him never died.
I hope that just like Santiago, you never ever give up on your dreams. You may have various reasons on why you haven't achieve them yet but the truth is they don't really matter. What matters the most is that you always remember what it is and that you never give up trying to achieve it. Because sooner or later, you'll definitely achieve it. The universe will conspire for you to achieve it because they always have a soft spot for dreamers with a stubborn heart.
My Favorite Lines:
"To realize one's destiny is a persons' only obligation. And when you want something, all the universe conspire in helping you achieve it."
"The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times."
"Each day, each hour, is a part of the good fight."
"But if you believe in yourself worthy of the thing you fought so hard to get, then you become an instrument of God, you help the soul of the world, and you understand why you are here."
"The closer one gets to realizing his Personal Legend, the more that Personal Legend becomes his true reason for being."
"We are afraid of losing what we have, whether it's our life or our possessions and property. But this fear evaporates when we understand that our life stories and the history of the world were written by the same hand."
"We make a lot of detours, but we're always heading for the same destination."
"Everyone has his or her own way of learning things. His way isn't the same as mine, nor mine as his. But we're both in search of our Personal Legends, and I respect him for that."
"Because I don't live in either my past or my future. I'm interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man."
"Because people become fascinated with pictures and words, and wind up forgetting the Language of the World."
"What the boy felt at that moment was that he was in the presence of the only woman in his life, and that, with no need for words, she recognized the same thing."
"The future belongs to God, and it is only He who reveals it, under extraordinary circumstances."
"Then you'll die in the midst of trying to realize your Personal Legend. That's a lot better than dying like millions of other people, who never even knew their Personal Legends were."
My Favorite Part
Everything. Okay, I guess that's too much. Haha! The way that the story of Santiago's journey was incredibly written. Everything symbolizes something that we can all relate to in real life. But I guess my favorite part of the book is, oddly, the Introduction. That four pages were more than enough for me to be dragged into deep-thinking. They were more than enough to change me.
My Least Favorite Part
Nothing. I love everything about this book. But, if I have to choose, I wasn't really into the part when Santiago learned how to do alchemy in order to save their lives against the tribesmen. I know, it's one of the highlights of the story but if I were to rank everything, it was a part that I relate the least.
My Verdict
This book is definitely something that you should read over and over again. It changed me and it will definitely change you.
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