5 Life Lessons To Learn From The Alchemist.

I recently finished reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Brazilian author Paulo Coelho is one of the world’s most popular spiritual writers.

One of my favorite books of Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. It’s a story about a shepherd boy who journeys in search of a treasure about which he has dreamed. What I love about the story is that there are so many life lessons embedded in it. Where you are in your life determines what the silent messages are for you. I will do my best to impart some of the lessons that ring true for me without giving away too much of the story.

This article will demonstrate a few of the key lessons and takeaways that this book has to offer, but as for any situation, there is always more to learn.

Here are 5 life lessons we can learn from The Alchemist:

1. We are all Alchemists with the power to build our ideal lives.

Alchemy means to transform or create something through some seemingly magical process. Designing your own custom life from scratch, according to what was only a mental picture of it before, is nothing short of magic. How many people have successfully done this? Only a handful. But it’s the opportunity that lies in front of every single one of us. It’s imperative that we snatch it up and get to work!

2. Fear is a bigger obstacle than the obstacle itself

“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams because every second of the search is a second’s encounter with God and with eternity.”

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.

3. Your mission is the most important aspect of your life.

Everyone needs a mission, and this is part of what gives you your drive and your purpose. When you know you’re why you are more dedicated to your skill building, your hustle improves, and your clarity for the future increases.
Your relationships with family, friends, and romance are improved drastically because you’re authentically living for your real purpose.

Also, it comes before your love life, because your heart is wide open, giving your all to the world as you see it, and providing value for generations that come after you. There’s an anecdote in the story when the main character Santiago is faced with a choice between his love Fatima, or his mission, otherwise known as for why his search began.

It’s like this for us too. If you’re not willing to throw it all away for the greater good, and your highest consciousness, it’s not going to end well.

4. It’s about the journey more than the destination

Many of us, myself included, get caught up in the striving for a destination. “If I could just get…” “If I could just make enough to…” “If I can just reach…” This thinking is pointless because all we ever have is the present moment.

What this really means is that we’ll always have to be right here, right now. If we’re unsatisfied right here and right now, we’re fooling ourselves. We’re delaying gratification to a point that may never come. It’s powerful to reach and work towards goals on the daily and smash them.

5. We must be able to make choices about how to move forward, and perhaps the best way to seek an answer from ourselves is to ask specific questions that require a yes-or-no answer.

There’s a point in The Alchemist when the shepherd receives two stones, one black and one white, signifying “yes” and “no.” The purpose of the stones is to help the boy “read the omens,” or understand the signs the universe is giving him as well as what his intuition is telling him.

People who have trouble making decisions sometimes put them off indefinitely, leaving themselves feeling stuck. There are signs or the gut feeling we always have about something. But if we are confused and don’t really know how to proceed, it still bests that we make a choice. The point is to move forward. If we don’t choose, we are electing to stay still and let things remain the same. Not choosing is often the equivalent of not taking action.

When you ask questions of yourself regarding what to do, ask specific ones that reflect what you really want so that the concrete answers you generate propel you forward rather than mire you in further confusion.