4. April - P Coelho, The Alchemist

I mentioned a couple reviews ago, that reading self-helpy books wasn't really my thing. That is, until I decided to level up with my reading goal. 4 self-help books deep and I was beginning to enjoy this new genre. Each book had tested my thinking, forced me to evaluate some decisions and dare I say, I have started to become a little more purposeful in my daily activities.

Then I read this book.

And aaaah... the arms of fiction opened up wide, sucked me in, closed tightly and threatened to never let go. I was reminded all over again how much I loved reading fiction. How the story trapped me for 3 hours straight until I had read cover to cover and the world had fallen back into that familiar hum that came with reading such books. After reading this book, I had to take a couple days rest from the Kindle. Mainly because I didn't really feel compelled to read the next self-help book on my list. I also was a little afraid of falling back into the fiction hole I had worked so hard to climb up and out of. Jack Reachers next adventure was only a couple taps away...

But what caught me off guard with this book, is while is fits firmly in the fiction/adventure/quest/magical genre, it is also highly regarded as fitting into the self-helpy book genre too. Thanks for the recommendation @EdenWebster (4years ago), I finally read it. This review is a short one. Mainly because this book was a short one haha so let's get to it.

Title: The Alchemist

Author: Paulo Coelho

Pages: 182

*This is my opinion. Nothing in here is "fact" - just saying.

This is a story of adventure. Santigo, a spanish shepherd travels the Sahara desert to find his treasure. Along the way he meets people who each teach him lessons in their own unique way that will help him in achieving his Personal Legend. This is a thought provoking story, about listening, observing and being open to learning always. Its about finding your personal legend and doing everything in your power to achieve it.

I give this book 4 stars though, because there are 2 things I just can't agree with and they take away a Nic star. The first is:

If you want something to happen you should want it hard enough to not care about anything else in your life, and pursue it all cost; and the second is:

People who don't do that are unhappy, sad, afraid or all 3.

"... because there is one great truth on this planet: whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want to do something, it's because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. It's your mission on earth."

I think it's important to remember this is a story. It isn't fact. It isn't a manual on how to live your life. What I think it is, is a wake up call that we all have a purpose in life and if we're not doing something we love, then its time to shake ourselves out of our daily rhythm, smell the roses, hear the birds, see the clouds move, find our purpose in life, then get out there and do it.

So I took a an issue with the first point, only because in todays world we don't need more self-absorbed narcissistic people who are only out here to achieve for themselves. We need people who care enough to work to a bigger purpose, like the reduction of plastic or fossil fuels and the protection of clean drinking water or action to reduce climate change. I 100% believe you can find your personal legend in contributing to a bigger cause. It doesn't have to be the ones I named, but finding one that fits with your interests, beliefs and values will only help contribute to helping fix some of the problems we are facing today on earth.

The second point I took an issue with, was because sometimes people just don't know they have a personal legend. It doesn't make them unhappy, sad or afraid, ever heard the ignorance is bliss saying... they just don't know what they don't know.

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

Anyways lets move on to some things I do like about the book. One thing I like about this book and a reason I would recommend it as a read is, it really does give you hope, that when you are on the right path and things are going well, it's because "the universe" is reaffirming you are heading in the right direction. Sometimes in life we just some external confirmation that life is good because we deserve it, and I would 100% recommend this book as your go to if you're feeling a bit sluggish or down in the dumps and need a bit of pep to keep going.

“It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.”

I like to think, Coelho is pushing us to look beyond the literal meaning of the words and treat them as a trail to the things we really want and deserve. Beyond the literal meaning of those words he writes, what he really does is paint a trail that if we want the things we really want, then we have to work hard for them. We have to be purposeful, listen, be open and explore our thoughts, our feelings and wants to truly understand what it is we absolutely desire. Some call it dreaming, but I think what Coelho is really trying to do is to tell us that those dreams can come true if we work hard.

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”

So I leave you with that, some hope on this weird Wednesday. Told you it was short haha, let me know what your personal legend is. Have you figured it out? Are you still on a mission to find it? And if you don't know, well here is a sign :D

---

If you'd like more information on the author and other work he has completed, you can find him here: Paulo Coelho

If you want to purchase the kindle version online*: The Alchemist

If you'd like to purchase a paperback copy: The Alchemist, Gift Edition

--

*I have figured out how to use affiliate links on Amazon, so if you purchase this e-book I think I'm set to make about 0.2c :), yay me!