#Alchemist February 17

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Yesterday I wrote about the importance of having a daily destination or WHERE. Two years ago I read a book that I revisited last week when I felt my sense of purpose and direction had become stuck in neutral. I didn’t reread the entire book but went back and looked at my notes. The book is titled “The ALCHEMIST” and is written by Paulo Coelho.

The book was written in 1988 and is a graphic novel about following your dream. It has been describes as beautifully written fiction and spiritual self guide handbook. Here are my takeaways and notes from the book.

Your dream has four obstacles that have to be overcome to accomplish it. The story of The ALCHEMIST is about Santiago a shepherd boy who took steps to find extravagant treasure. That was his dream but he had four challenges that I have outlined below.

• First we are constantly bombarded with messages and advice that your dream is IMPOSSIBLE.
• Second our LOVE of others becomes an obstacle-Pursuing a dream means dealing with the emotion of abandoning everything else including those that LOVE you. Those that LOVE you want you to be happy not control us. This is often difficult to deal with.
• Third is FEAR. The fear of our defeats that we will certainly encounter as we pursue any dream.
• Fourth is the GUILT of achievement. You look around as your nearly accomplish your dream and deal with the emotion you are not good enough and don’t deserve it. The GUILT is so strong that it overwhelms the joy and happiness the dream was meant to create.

If you want to learn about the book The Alchemist here is a summary.

Don’t let you dreams die or worse yet let them get stuck in neutral. Reading can help inspire us to get back in the game.