A few years ago, while organizing my bookshelf, I found the book “The Alchemist.” I do not know for how long it was lying there. But I am glad I found it because it teaches me many life lessons every time I read it. I always go back to this book whenever I need motivation, which is almost every second month…. lol. In this blog, I have highlighted my takeaway from this book. I am sure you will resonate with the life lessons I learnt from The Alchemist.
The story revolves around a young Andalusian shepherd named Santiago. He followed his recurring dream and travelled to Egypt to find treasure near the pyramids. During the search, he went through various experiences, overcame many hurdles, and learnt many life lessons before getting his treasure. It is a beautiful book about hardships, following dreams, omens, constant leanings, life lessons, recognizing opportunities, faith, and much more.
Click on this link to read the summary of The Alchemist.
Here are the life lessons I learnt from “The Alchemist”
Be aware of your true calling.
This book encourages us to recognize and follow our true calling. The author, Paulo Coelho, has beautifully described it in the author’s note itself. He says that our true calling is the path God has made us follow. He has pointed out four obstacles that stop us from recognizing our true calling. The first obstacle is unawareness of our true calling, the second is the fear of hurting our loved ones to pursue our calling, the third is the fear of failure, and the fourth is the fear of realizing the dream for which we fought all our lives.
The protagonist, the shepherd, wanted to know the world and travel despite his father’s will, who wanted him to become a priest. I consider him lucky to have that much clarity on what he wants to do. They discussed it when the boy summoned the courage to tell his father about it. His father told him travel requires a lot of money, and among them, the ones that travel around are the shepherds. To this, he said, then I will be a shepherd, And he chooses a path for himself based on his passion and preference.
My Recommendation: A true calling is a career or path that fills us with passion and enthusiasm. Something we can do every single day, even if we do not get any recognition, money, or appreciation for that matter. Something that makes us lose the sense of time and makes us feel happy and content with ourselves. I highly recommend the book IKIGAI by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles to find your true calling.
We must recognize and follow the omens.
The story begins with a recurring dream that the boy had at an abandoned, ruined church. He could not stop thinking about it. While crossing the village of Tarifa, he suddenly remembered that there was an old woman who interprets dreams. He met with that old woman, and she interpreted his dream and asked him to go to the Pyramids to find his treasure. Later, he met with an old king who referred to the Pyramids again. Because of the repeated reference to the Pyramids, he understands that something must be there, so he decides to pursue his dream.
Later, after getting robbed by a boy, he started working at a crystal shop. Whatever he was doing or recommending to the shopkeeper or the crystal merchant was flourishing, and he understood that luck was in his favour, which is why they had been making money. So he suggested the merchant put a display in front of the shop to attract more customers so that he would get more commission and buy sheep as early as possible.
And again, in the desert, when he saw two hawks fighting with each other, he interpreted it as an attack from the other tribe and saved many lives.
My Recommendation: God talks to us through various mediums like our thoughts, intuitions, signs etc. We ignore them and move on every day. The author calls it the Language of the World that the shepherd was aware of. We should also try to pay attention to these omens or signs and understand what they are trying to convey. It may sound superstitious, but this is my take on it
Have a positive mindset, no matter how bizarre the situation is.
This story teaches us to have a positive prospect towards life. It is evident in various situations throughout the story. As the story moves, the shepherd, the protagonist, goes to a foreign land to chase his dream. He was from Spain and went to Africa to find hidden treasure near the Pyramids. He felt devastated on the very first day of his arrival. A thief took all his money and left him with a half-eaten sandwich, a book, a jacket, and two stones that an old man named Melchizedek had given him. He was in a foreign land without a penny and did not even know their language.
At this moment, he felt miserable and blamed God for being unfair to him for following his dream. But soon, he realized he was already doing what he had always wanted: travel and explore new places. Through his self-talk in this situation, he shifted his mindset from being a thief’s victim to an adventurer in quest of his treasure.
He felt shattered many times in the story. One incident is when the crystal merchant tells the shepherd that he would not have enough money to go to the Pyramids even if he worked for him the whole year. This news was heartbreaking for him. But after a few minutes, he got up, fixed his clothes, gathered courage, and decided to do something about it. He was not ready to give up, and this attitude was helping him immensely.
My Recommendation: We all must do the same. No matter where life takes us, we should always try to see the positive side and make ourselves courageous enough to fight back like warriors, pull ourselves out, and shine like stars.
Understand what makes you truly happy.
The protagonist, the shepherd, who later worked at a crystal shop, knew that he wanted to earn and save money as early as possible to buy sheep, return to his city and become a shepherd again. He was sure that the crystal business was not what he wanted to do in his life. He was unhappy doing it, though he put all his life into that business to make it flourish.
My Recommendation: We all may think that crystal business is much better than being a shepherd; he should have stuck to that. But that business was not his calling. He was a free spirit who wanted to explore new places, learn new languages, and have different experiences in life. We should also try hard to find our true calling and do what makes us happy while keeping aside social norms and societal pressures.
Past experience never goes in vain.
While struggling in Egypt after getting robbed, the shepherd noticed he had been applying the same lessons he had learned with his sheep. He could understand people perfectly without even knowing their language, the way he used to understand the needs of his sheep and communicate with them without words. He required a lot of patience to adjust and make space for himself in the new world he had just arrived in. But his experience with his sheep had taught him many things without his knowledge. His life as a shepherd had taught him all about patience.
As the story progressed, the shepherd, while working in a crystal shop, suggested to the merchant that they should display crystals outside the shop to attract more customers. However, the merchant was not in his favour because he was worried that the crystals on the display would get broken and cause a loss. Here again, the shepherd used his experience as a shepherd and told the merchant that when he used to take his sheep from fields, many sheep had died when they came upon a snake. But this is how life is; such things happen now and then.
My Recommendation: It teaches us that no matter what we are doing today or what we have done in the past, we always use our experience, both personal and professional, in our present situations. Nothing goes in vain.
Maintain a balance between your love and your dreams.
After meeting Fatima, the desert girl the shepherd fell in love with, he started thinking of not pursuing his dream of finding treasure. His heart tries to manipulate him. And, when the time came for the boy to leave everything behind and proceed with his search for his dream, he wanted to stay with the girl. He started considering her much more worthy than the treasure he might get if he continued his search. He wanted to stay with the girl for the rest of his life. Here, the Alchemist suggested that true love will never hold you back. Love helps you fly high instead. If you ignore your dreams today, then you will regret later for not following them. You will no longer be capable enough to do anything at that time. The girl loves you, and she will wait for you to return.
My Recommendation: We all should know that the person we love is everything to us, but the dreams we see also mean a lot. We must find how we can maintain a balance between the two. Love is not something to hold us back or push us to do something we do not want. It gives us freedom and strength to conquer the world. It shows us the strength we carry within ourselves and makes us do things we are capable of. If you have to choose between them, always go with your dreams. Your love will surely wait for you if they truly love you back.
Communicate with your heart.
After paying attention to the alchemist’s suggestion to follow his dream and your love will wait for you, the boy thought for a while. He understood his heart was afraid because it would suffer if he did not find his treasure. It would suffer if he never came back to the girl he loved. To end this, the alchemist suggested the boy tell his heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it attempts to find its dreams because every second of the search is an encounter with God and eternity.
Then the boy said to his heart, When I have been truly searching for my treasure, every day has been luminous. It is because I knew every hour of my search was a part of the dream. And I have discovered things that I would have never seen. I may not have had the courage to try things that seemed impossible for a shepherd to achieve.
Then his heart, after staying quiet for an entire afternoon, understood his point of view. His heart said, “Everyone on the earth has a treasure that awaits him. We, people’s heart, seldom say much about these treasures, because people no longer want to go in search of them. We speak of them only to children. Later, we simply let life proceed, in its own direction, toward its own fate. But, unfortunately, very few follow the path laid out for them- the path to their destinies, and to happiness. Most people see the world as a threatening place, and, because they do, the world turns out, indeed, to be a threatening place.”
My Recommendation: Our fear of failure stops us from following our dreams and makes our hearts feel afraid. But we must understand that we will become sad and disappointed later in life if we do not follow our dreams or destiny. We must listen to our hearts, find out what is behind them, convince them, and follow them rigorously because they know where our treasures are.
My favourite quotes from the book “The Alchemist”:
“When you possess great treasures within you, and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed.”
“Your eyes show the strength of your soul.”
“Don’t let others see that you’re afraid. They would consider you beneath themselves.”
“Never give in to your fear. There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”
“Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time.”
“Courage is the quality most essential to understanding the Language of the World.”
Conclusion
The Alchemist is a masterpiece that can help you reevaluate your life, take you on a journey of self-discovery, help you overcome your fears and encourage you to pursue your dreams. I would highly recommend this book to everyone.
I have shared all the life lessons I learnt from the book. Please comment on what you have learnt from this timeless novel.
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