There is one book that I highly enjoy reading and listening to. I have listened to it several times and I only heard about it a year ago, as I was finishing up my last year of studies.

A colleague of mine, at the time, recommended a book called The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It is a story about a man named Santiago. He was a shepherd boy who dreamed of treasure in a faraway land. He kept having reoccurring dreams that propelled him to take action.  He left his home to follow his dream, literally. Along the way, he payed attention to omens which lead him to the right people and places.

There is a saying by Arthur Ashe that goes,

“Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.”

I feel this quote captured the heart of the story. Santiago dealt with many obstacles and he had to step out of his comfort zone. His dream was a constant motivator for him. It helped him to overcome the dilemmas that stood in his way. The majority of the story is about the many ways he overcame the obstacles that stood between him and his dream.

The novel reaffirmed to me that following your dreams is not for the faint of heart. Sometimes we might start to get comfortable with where we are even though we have a little more climbing to do. Luckily, there will always be signs or omens signalling to us that it is time to keep going.

On the worst days, you will question why you keep giving it your all and it seems like you are not making progress. You might even get tired and fed up, but that is usually when you are so close to a breakthrough.

I  hope I did not give too much of the story away, and I hope you get a chance to read or listen to The Alchemist. I highly recommend the story to those of you that believe everyone has a purpose in life. If you have not quite figured out your purpose or if you are having doubts about what your purpose is, this book will inspire you.