The Alchemist

Yesterday I bought the book The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It was enthusiastically recommended to me by a friend who wanted to know what I thought about it. At the bookstore I picked it up from the display shelf…browsed through the pages…hmmm…about a boy…sheep…an old King, an Englishman...a Gypsy... ”Must be boring” I thought to myself. But this friend also introduced me to two other books which I read with aplomb and still vividly remember and appreciate to this day (The Da Vinci Code and Rich Dad, Poor Dad). Throwing caution to the wind and fully trusting my friend’s taste in books, I bought it. I started to read it…and was hardly able to put it down. A few hours after I started, at 2:30 in the morning to be exact, I finished it. For all its simplicity and elegant use of the language, The Alchemist has to be one of the most profound books I have ever read.

The story talks about “Personal Legends”…our dreams…our hopes…our ambitions. To recognize our own unique calling we must learn to read the signs…”omens” which give us some hints on what paths we should take, on what things we should do. Ironically enough, there is no hard and fast rule with which to interpret such signs or omens. It is determined by our own hearts…as we strive to understand the “Language of God” and the “Soul of the World”. It tells us to keep listening to our hearts…or one day our hearts will tire of talking to us and become silent. One of the concepts I found most intriguing and gripping is the “Principle of Favorability”. If you want something, everything in the universe conspires to help you get it. True or not, it isn’t for me to say, but believing in it somehow makes life somewhat more bearable. It means that we do not necessarily have to grope in the dark in search of ourselves or our callings. It just means that our hearts already know. It’s just up to us to listen…recognize the situations that will assist us in our personal quests, and read the signs along the way.

The book threads a fine line between people being the masters of their own fate and pre-determined fates…destiny. There is just enough of each for us to take note of and be responsible for our actions, and at the same time cling to the idea that our paths have already been pre-selected, that our destiny awaits us. Maktub…”It is written…”

It is such an incredibly romantic notion to believe that everything has a purpose…that God has purposely made events happen…or set obstacles in our way, and that our daily lives are so full of signs and omens that it would take an individual with an incredibly closed mind and a heart of stone to ignore them. It makes us feel that everything is as it should be. In accordance to a divine plan perhaps…or to His will. It makes us less fearful of taking chances, because all risks have a purpose, and mistakes do not exist…because they were meant to be there…to help us understand…and to show us the way. It is through this journey that we become better versions of ourselves, and closer to fulfilling our personal legends. Just as an alchemist transmutes lead into gold, we can raise ourselves into a higher plane of existence…with the understanding and knowledge to lead us closer to our own goals and destinies. Our own personal treasures. Which incidentally…may not be all that far…as long as we keep our eyes open.

I could go on and on…but just take my word for it. Read the book. :-)

“To realize one’s destiny is a person’s only obligation.”