Struggling to Find Your Treasure

“People are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of.”

–Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

I just finished reading the book, The Alchemist by Coelho. The story, like many of Coelho’s stories, touched me deeply. After I had finished reading it, I lay in bed for hours contemplating the overall message of the book. Being that I am a person who doesn’t believe in pure coincidences, I believe I picked that book up when I needed to. That being the case, I have to wonder what message I was supposed to take from the novel. It has been said that no two people will read the same book. And that is true. I will receive a message based on where I am in my life experiences and another reader will receive something totally different.

Many people probably identified more with the shepherd in the book, the main character who spends the entirety of the book learning how to read the language of the universe in order to find his treasure. And, while I received many life lessons from the shepherd, I cannot shake the image of the man at the end. The one who admits that he didn’t follow his vision or destiny through till the end. The one who contributes to the shepherd’s final understanding of what would be required of him to see his dream come true.

It’s so easy to give up of achieving a dream. Many things make it possible: fear. I finally can understand how a person could be afraid of finally attaining the thing he or she has prayed for all his or her life. It’s so easy to convince ourselves that it “won’t get greater later” and that it is better to go with what we know. After being knocked down two or three times, some people simply choose to give up. Why keep going right? Then there’s the dilemma that arises when people try to chase dreams that are bigger than anything that the average person could ever imagine.

You have a 9 to 5 job that brings a steady stream of paychecks, so why give up that certainty for that big dream you have? You know, that dream that’s so big, you can’t imagine how it will ever come true for you? I can’t answer for anyone but myself. I don’t want to, but, yeah, I can see how it’d be easy to stick with the familiar and just not risk the impossible dream. Another thing that keeps people from trying to make their dreams come true is complacency. We don’t want to change and it’s easier to just let things stay the same. Change is hard for everyone, even when the change is positive.

The most important lesson I took away from The Alchemist: It’s not enough to have a dream. You have to be intentional in trying to attain your dream. In those intentional steps, the universe will rise to meet you and help carry you through to seeing your dream manifested in your life.

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A treasure sits

forever waiting

for the eye of Heaven

to behold.

Beneath a tree

buried deep

a treasure awaits

me.

I will walk away

for today

I am not ready

for the blessing

that awaits me

so

I will simply

throw it away

and hope

it returns

another day.