"If what one finds is made of pure matter, it will never spoil. And one can always come back. If what you had found was only a moment of light, like the explosion of a star, you would find nothing on your return."
this quote is taken from the book, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho which i am sure many people have already read. but i, just took the dive. and i loved it. a simple, easy and quick read that if taken seriously will challenge how you live each day. a motto i like to live my life by is, "live each day to the hilt, wherever you are be all there." pursue live diligently...be present each day physically and mentally.
the alchemist tells a story of a young boy in search of his personal legend. he sells his sheep, abandons them and all he knows of being a shepherd. he finds encouragment from a king and is guided through the desert by an alchemist, in hopes of reaching the egyptian pyramids where he hopes to find a treasure and his personal legend.
like the boy, we may not know in the beginning what we want or will find on our journey through life, but if we persevere and rely on God (that inner soul and strength) amazing things we could have never imagined will take place before our very eyes.
if you are looking for a good but quick read, i recommend The Alchemist. books like this are able to hold many truths. if you have read the book, tell me what truth you found. would you be as easily convinced to take the risks santiago did? what do you think Coehlo meant by 'personal legend'?
I read "The Alchemist" last summer and found that it spoke some truths as well. Sometimes it takes a step of faith, outside of the comfortable border we have made for ourselves in order to grow and find out what we hold deep down inside of us, talents, passions, desires we never thought were possible.
ReplyDeleteSometimes what we are looking for may be right under our nose, but it takes going full circle to realize this. It is pretty amazing how sometimes we must give up everything (like Santiago) our livelihood, everything we hold dear, all that we know, in order to open our hearts and minds to new revelations.
Sadly, not all people are willing to give up the things they know, for something greater. Such as the glass maker? that Santiago works for for a while. Unwilling to take risks or step beyond his comfort zone, he would never reach his true potential.
Some people are unwilling because they think they are too set in their ways, they are too old to change, you can't teach an old dog new tricks right? Good news, we aren't dogs. We are people, and there is ALWAYS time to change. Jesus hung on the cross between two criminals, one had the faith and moldability at the very end of his life to expand his borders. He's in Paradise today. How moldable are we?