From The Alchemist...

The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, a Brazilian author, has changed lives and inspired many. In fact, most of my friends say it was this very book that inspired them to do the Peace Corps, to "give up two years of our lives." Ha.

So, for those of you out there unsure of what's next, at a crossroads of sorts (like me, myself and I) or heck, even if you are sure, let these words refresh and encourage you to keep following your dream, your calling, your PERSONAL LEGEND.
Here's an abridged version of this brilliant book's treasures:

What is a personal calling?

It is God's blessing; it is the path God chose for you here on Earth. Whenever we do something that fills us with enthusiasm, we are following our legend. However, we don't all have the courage to confront our own dream. Why?

There are four obstacles:

1. We are told from childhood onward that everything we want to do is impossible...our personal calling is so deeply buried in our soul as to be invisible. But it's still there. Bado.

2. Love. We know what we want to do, but are afraid of hurting those around us by abandoning everything to pursue our dream. We don't realize that love is just a further impetus, not something to prevent us going forward. We don't realize that those who genuinely wish us well want us to be happy and are prepared to accompany us on that journey.

3. Fear of the defeats we'll meet on the path...we warriors of light must be prepared to have patience in difficult times and to know that the Universe is conspiring in our favor, even though we may not understand how.

4. Fear of losing the dream for which we fought all our lives. The mere possibility of getting what we want fills the soul of the ordinary person with guilt. We forget about all the obstacles we overcame, all the suffering we endured, all the things we had to give up in order to get this far. This is the most dangerous of obstacles because it has a kind of saintly aura about it: renouncing joy and conquest. But if you believe yourself worthy of the thing you fought so hard to get, then you become an instrument of God, you help the Soul of the World and you understand why you are here.

I had a friend who claimed her greatest fear in life is to miss her Personal Legend. For real. Let us not lose hope, our grip on our dreams.

"A poor man is not one without a cent, but one without a dream."

Click on my first link (above on top right of this page) for the dream which I hope to make a reality this August 2008 with friends, Tanzanian and American...