Always follow your heart, as it is the language of God. — Paulo Coelho
“One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.” — Paulo Coelho
Steps to reflect
1. Do what makes you happy
Santiago’s (the main character of the story) father wanted him to be a priest but he wanted to travel the world. Later on he chose to be a shepherd and was happy with life despite making less money.
2. Be aware of our personal calling
What is personal calling?
It is God’s blessing; it is the path that God chose for you here on Earth. Whenever we do something that fills us with enthusiasm, we are following our destiny.
3. We fear nothing but fear itself
Fear holds us back and stops us from taking risks. Any new pursuit requires entering uncharted territory – that’s scary. But with any great risk comes great reward.
The experiences you gain in pursuing your dream will make it all worthwhile.
4. Never Give Up
The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times. Because the eighth time could be your breakthrough.
The boy in the story lost his gold (all the money) about 2 times during his journey. But that didn’t stop him pursuing his destiny. He worked again and again to earn more money and keep chasing his dreams.
5. Be ready to be tested
Before a dream is realized, the World tests everything that was learned along the way.
It does this not because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we’ve learned as we’ve moved toward that dream. That’s the point at which most people give up.
Some important lines from the book
I’m an old superstitious Arab, and I believe in our proverbs. There’s one that says, “Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time.” — The Alchemist
“You must always know what it is that you want.” — The King
“They are not my sheep anymore.” he said to himself, without nostalgia. “They must be used to their shepherd, and have probably forgotten me. That’s good. Creatures like the sheep, that are used to traveling, know about moving on.” — Santiago
“You have been a real blessing to me. Today I understand something I didn’t see before: every blessing ignored becomes a curse. I don’t want anything else in life. But you are forcing me to look at wealth and at the horizons I have never known. Now that I have seen them, and now that I see how immense my possibilities are, I’m going to feel worse than I did before you arrived. Because I know the things, I should be able to accomplish, and I don’t want to do so.” — The Old Man
W𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵. — The Book
Important Phrases from the Book
Fear of Suffering
“The fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself” – often the scenarios are not as bad as they are in our mind.
Gratitude and Monotonous Life
“When every day seems the same, that is because people have stopped noticing the good things that appear in their lives.”
Living in the Present
“I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present because life is the moment we’re living now.” Present moment is all we have, present moment is all that matters.
Life Improvement
“When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.”
Learning Through Action
“There is only one way to learn. It’s through action. Everything you need to know you will learn through your journey.”
Glossary
Hope
- When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.
Dreams
- There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.
Wisdom
- The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.
Honesty
- Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.
Love
- This is what we call love. When you are loved, you can do anything in creation. When you are loved, there’s no need at all to understand what’s happening, because everything happens within you.
Confidence
- Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time.
Reality
- I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living now.
Truth
- When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too.
Mission
- To realize one’s destiny is a person’s only obligation.
From the book:-
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho