Read-view: The Alchemist

The Alchemist
25th Anniversary Edition
By: Paulo Coelho

I took a deep breath, and when I looked at the clock, it was already 5:00 a.m.

I couldn’t believe that I did not sleep the entire night because I was reading a book.

What was unusual about this book that kept me reading the whole night? Why couldn’t I put it down?

Here’s what I can tell you about it. It’s everything!

When I finally put it down to grab at least a couple of hours of sleep, I looked at the cover of the book once again and sighed, WOW!

WOW, for one extraordinary reason that it was breathtaking and engaging.

The story has two parts.

• Part One is all about the boy’s desire to travel and to know the world. It is what he always wanted to accomplish. It is his Personal Legend.

• It is also about the recurring dream that set him on a journey to go to the Pyramids of Egypt to find the treasure that will make him very rich.

• In Part Two, the boy met the Alchemist who taught him lessons about life, people, the Soul of the World, and about following his dream.

This post is not a book review, but only my interpretation of the story and what brought me to react towards certain things and everything around me.

The entire story contains messages that are so broad, intense, and meaningful. It is vibrant and truthful because we all have lived through it in our lifetime. It made me rethink our approach towards life, people, and loving someone, and how some of us abandoned our strong desire to achieve our dream.

The story took me to another part of the world – my world, and my journey.

Here are some passages that I got particularly connected with:

          “Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.”

Come to think of it, it is true.

You and I have probably experienced this one time, or more often in our lives. Some people seem to know what is best for you and what is not. They push to you their own opinion about how you should live your life without regard to your feelings or your situation in life. They want you to be the person they think you should be. They seem to know who you should be. And if you didn’t listen to them, they get angry, and they believe you deserve the life you currently living now.

But the truth is, we all have the ability to choose our path and how we want to lead our lives. No one could do that for you, nor could know this except you – because your heart knows what is best for you.

The boy in the story knew that. He traveled to different places, met new people, and become friends with them but he doesn’t need to spend so much time with them because he has to move around again. That is why travelling appealed to him.

       “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

Some of us have chosen to abandon our dream. We allowed those negative feelings and beliefs prevent us from fulfilling our strong desire to see the reality of our vision.

Sometimes, we embraced the idea to dream about our dream because we have already got used to the way things are. We are afraid of change – to change our ways of life, our environment, or who we are.

Some are only afraid that they may not realise their dream. And that there is nothing left for them except concede defeat and give in to disappointments.

But there was a boy, the boy in the story had decided to follow his dream-his Personal Legend and find the treasure. He would travel to Egypt, and from there, he would look for the treasure.

Everything that had happened to the boy occurred between sunrise and sunset. He was a shepherd that morning when he left the fields of Andalusia. He crossed the sea to another continent. By the time the sun began to set, he was already in another country, a stranger in an unfamiliar place, no money and no longer a shepherd.

He understood that the chain of events that happened were all linked together to help him achieve his dream.

In conclusion, the boy didn’t realise that he was already living his dream. He achieved his goal to travel and to know the world simply because of his desire to find the treasures.

He met different people along the way. He made new friends and learned from them. He walked the Sahara Desert, felt the wind on his face, and discovered that even the sun, the wind, and the desert have their limitations on what they can do.

He found out that the treasures he was searching for that would make him a wealthy man were right where he came from because they were just within him all those times.

The treasures were material symbolism. I believe that the true meaning of this is that the treasures were all about the wisdom and experiences he learned on his travel. These are gems that he can share with other people to help them understand everything about life, people, and the world itself.

So, what do think? Feel free to send in your comment. I love to hear it.

Till next time.

Cheers!

Ninagracia