read | life lessons from an alchemist: Paulo Coelho's 'The Alchemist'

I was recommended Paulo Coelho's 'The Alchemist' by a good friend at work, and I am so glad I decided to read it!  The book won the Guinness World Record for the most translated book by a living author after it was translated into 67 languages.  It's sold over 65 million copies and won loads of different awards.  I think it deserves it.  It's probably the most inspiring read we've had since Rhonda Byrne's 'The Secret', but it's better than that because it's fiction so you've got the fun of doing a bit of work yourself to decipher the meaning behind the story.

The book isn't too long - if you're a voracious reader you'll probably read it in a week - but it's one of those books that you'll dip for a long time to come after you've read it once.  I think the more it's in your head, the more you'll apply it to your life, and the more you'll become the alchemist of your own life!

What is it about?
The book is about a shepherd boy called Santiago, who keeps having the same dream of finding treasure in the Pyramids of Egypt.  He goes to a gypsy, who tells him that he should follow his dream, because when he reaches the Pyramids he will find his treasure.  He then meets an old King, who encourages Santiago to follow his dream and carry out his Personal Legend.  This is what: 'you have always wanted to accomplish.  Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is... when you want something, all the Universe conspires in helping you achieve it'.  Santiago decides to follow his dream and leaves Andalusia, where he was living, to find the Pyramids.  The rest of the story tells the tale of his remarkable journey.

We thought we'd do our review a little differently this time around, and try to distil some of the key principles of the book for you.  Like 'An Alchemist's Guide to Life', if you will.  We hope you find these inspiring, and we hope you go ahead at read the book - it's brilliant and there's no way we can do it justice in just these few words.

1.  Vanity, despite it's perils is not the devil we make it out to be
You've got to look after yourself and your dreams.  The book makes it clear that even though being vain in the traditional sense is perilous, you have to allow yourself to spend time on yourself.  Being entirely selfless all the time is not the route to happiness.  You've got to get a balance between being charitable and spending time doing the things you love that will bring you closer to your dream.  The book makes it clear that we mustn't be guilty for spending time on our own dreams and desires, rather, we must spend time cultivating them in order to truly be happy.  And when we are happy, that's when we can have the most positive effect on other peoples' lives.

2.  To be happy, we've got to seek out a higher purpose for ourselves
So many people know they're not satisfied doing what they're doing, and know they're not happy in the place they're in.  But so few of them actually take the time to think about what would make them happy.  They live with a general feeling of dissatisfaction, but don't really know what would make it go away.  You've got to grab hold of life and decide where it's going to go for you.  If you don't like working at the supermarket, think about where you would like to work.  The next step is realising that with hard work and determination you can get there.  It is never too late to forge your own path to happiness.

Take a moment to sit down and brainstorm ideas.  If you could do anything, what would you do?  Take inspiration from children around you.  Once we get older we forget the power of dreaming without limits.  This is something that children do every day.  Get back to this position, and think of boundless options for your life.  If you can conceive of them, they are possible for you to make your own.

3.  Embrace breaking out of your comfort zone
Yes, things might go wrong, but if you truly want what it is that you are dreaming of, then you must have faith that you can manifest it into your own life.  You are an extraordinarily powerful being.

In order to get where you want to go, there will have to be changes.  You don't get someplace new doing what you always did.  So you've got to jump in there and embrace those changes.  This is a new and exciting time for you as you follow your own path to your own dream.  Keep your eyes on the prize, but enjoy the ride too.

4.  Don't tie yourself to material possessions
Like Santiago, the main character in the book, you've got to be free like the 'levanter' wind, to break out of your comfort zone.  The changes you need to make may seem difficult if you maintain an iron hold on all those material possessions that up until now have been the end in themselves.  Use them as the means to the end, instead, and you become as free as the wind, and capable of doing anything.

5.  Don't let fear stop you from achieving your potential
If you're too scared to get moving, you will never get there, after all! In the book, Santiago meets a crystal merchant who never achieves his dream of going to Mecca because he is too afraid that when he gets there things will not live up to what he's thought of.  He's also scared that when he's accomplished his dream, he won't have anything to live for afterwards.  His fear stops him from achieving his dream and is reflected in his lack of imagination to run his business successfully.  Santiago rejuvenates the business via changes the crystal seller was too anxious to complete on his own.  The crystal seller wasn't willing to change.  Santiago learns that sometimes you've got to be willing to sacrifice a comfortable life to be able to grow.  The crystal seller eventually realises the possibilities for life have no limits, and he feels weak for having resisted his dreams.  We don't want to sit thirty years from now and wish we'd done things differently - don't be scared - do it and don't have any regrets.

6.  Love the journey
Your prize isn't in finding your 'treasure' at the end of the day, but in the lessons you've learnt and the living you've done along the way.  Spend a moment every day to be thankful for the new experiences you are manifesting in your life.  Love today.  Live for the moment.  Enjoy the ride.

Enjoy today!!

- rosinaviolets    x