The Alchemist – A Journey of Choices

The Alchemist – A Journey of Choices

The Alchemist – A Journey of Choices is one of my most favorite books that I have read so far. A highly acclaimed novel written by Brazilian author Paulo Coelho the Alchemist is a timeless masterpiece filled with themes of destiny, personal legend, and the journey of self-discovery. This book was gifted to me by my brother way back in 2008.

This book had answered many of my never asked questions. I don’t know how many times I had read this book but every time I would get some more wisdom out of it. However, one thing that this book had taught me that time was how choices can conquer the challenges.

The book revolves around the story of a young shepherd boy Santiago, his journey of life who dreams of discovering the true treasure, his destiny or the purpose of life.  Santiago’s journey takes him from his homeland in Spain to the deserts of Egypt, where he encounters various characters and experiences that shape his understanding of life and the universe.

The book sail through a profound philosophical and spiritual theme which is one of the most compelling aspects of it. Coelho weaves the themes of destiny, fate, and the interconnectedness of all things throughout the narrative, inducing readers to reflect on their own life journeys and the pursuit of their dreams.

I read this book when I was through one of the most difficult phases of my life. I was stuck in ambitions, dreams, realities, family & motherhood. It was not easy to figure out what to choose and what not to. Then this book came to my rescue. It helped me to CHOOSE to follow my heart.

Through the journey of the protagonist of this book I learnt that the most important thing in life is “OUR CHOICES” or “WHAT WE CHOOSE”, that shapes our destiny.

It’s often said that destiny is pre-scripted. I agree but it comes up with choices. For example, the shepherd boy was having a normal life. He had a dream to travel & discover the treasure that he had heard that lying below the pyramids of Egypt. It was not easy to CHOOSE to embark on such a long journey especially when it would cost him everything what he had. He had to sell all his ship to gather enough money to start a journey.  That to not knowing how much rewarding it would be. And then his life transforms although not smoothly but overcoming challenges one after other.

So basically we all humans have our own life journeys. With every step, every moment in life we are provided with a privilege to choose.  And then there are chance, sudden events and occurrences derailing us. Then again, we are here to choose, whether to stay derailed or not, choose to start again or not.

This book taught me another very important thing, that is TRUST. We need to trust our choices, trust the circumstances that’s making us choose, in fact TRUST on the Divine plan.

As it is said, Destiny is half about what happens to us and half about what we choose to do with what happens to us.

This is my post for Alphabet A. I’m participating in #BlogchatterA2Z and hyperlink https://www.theblogchatter.com