“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
In the novel, "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho, Santiago lives in Spain as a shepherd. When he meets a gypsy, he learns of his destiny to go in search of his treasure in Egypt. Santiago embarks on a life-changing journey, and Santiago meets many wise people and learns from his mistakes and experiences and gains much wisdom. Santiago learns of “omens”, destiny, happiness, and love. This captivating story of coming of age and discovering oneself is full of much philosophical wisdom. Santiago is able to live a happy and joyous life throughout his quest.
Firstly, Santiago remains content even when unfortunate events occur. Even when everything is looking down Santiago is always able to see the positive and be grateful. For example, when Santiago travels to Africa after selling his entire herd of sheep for money to go to Egypt. He is robbed and all of his money is gone. But Santiago is appreciative of the fact that he has been able to travel to Africa and see an entire new world and culture. Many people in his position would be terribly disheartened. He gave up his old ways of life as a shepherd to become a traveler and a nomad. He isn’t just appreciative. But he is excited and overjoyed! It’s important to stay positive when bad things happen so that when wonderful things happen we can be even happier and full of joy. Coelho says “...people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives everyday the sun rises” (p.27). We should be grateful of the opportunities that have opened up because of bad things that happen. It gives a chance for us to approach things differently. Santiago had a more exciting experience because he was robbed and had to do things in another way. We will be able to notice that fantastic things are happening more easily. Santiago was able to.
In addition, Santiago has goals that he wants to achieve in his life. Santiago seeks to accomplish his Personal Legend or his destiny. He has been told that his Personal Legend is to find his treasure in Egypt. But Santiago realizes that his true Personal Legend is to travel the world and learn its wisdom, and to have adventure. Santiago is fulfilled when he discovers his physical treasure but also when he finds the love of his life and has learned the Language of the world. Santiago can understand that everything is connected. he learns that “...when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
Conclusively, throughout all of this Santiago experiences and lives through delightful and wonderful things. When bad things happen to Santiago he remains grateful, so as not to become saddened. Santiago always pushes himself to new limits, and he has a lot of fun and enjoys himself on his adventures. Santiago obtains much knowledge about his world. Santiago has goals that he (and the universe) set for him that he strives to achieve. He is faithful that all of the universe will conspire to help him. His hope supports him to never give up. Sometimes in life, we forget to keep these things in mind. We busy ourselves with unnecessary stress, and our lives become very unhappy. As our lives become bland we become blind to good fortune when each day is so similar to the next. We should aim for greatness; being grateful even when things are misfortunate and being adventurous and striving to accomplish our goals.
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