Powerful lessons from The Alchemist

Do you ever enjoy spending time alone? I mean really alone with no one but just your thoughts for company.

What do you think about? Your career, your significant other, your finances, and the way your life is shaping up? Do these thoughts make you feel satisfied and content with your life or do you feel the itch to change something about the course your life is headed towards?

Like you I too find myself constantly under a cloud of these thousand and one, random thoughts that appear in my mind. And to quieten the commotion of silent noise they create in my head, I end up either indulging in some hobby or reading a motivational book.

And ‘The Alchemist’ is one such book. I read that book whenever I need a ‘pick me up’.

I am sure you all must have read this book. If you haven’t, you must, immediately. There are some books which will teach you lessons for life, and this one is definitely on top of the list. There thousands of books which share their advice on dreams, but this book will plunge you into the whole new world of possibilities where you’ll discover that there is nothing as important as following your dreams & destiny.

It’s a masterpiece from the Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho. The Alchemist’s main theme is finding one’s destiny. The whole journey teaches us to follow our hearts and dreams; we should always seize the opportunities life offers in the pursuit of whatever makes us happy.

Personally, I can safely say that it is one of my most favourite reads. I have read and reread this book multiple times, and everytime I find something new in its story. It inspired me more than any other book I’ve ever read. Some of the most awesome quotes can be found deep within its pages. Quotes that have a left a lasting impression on my mind.

Quotes like “Whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you want something, it is because that desire originated in the soul of the Universe. It is your mission on earth. To realize one’s destiny is a person’s only real obligation. All things are one. When you want something; All the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it”.

Do you believe in this? Well, I most definitely do.

We must understand that our dreams are not silly or that our selfish desires should not be ignored. We must understand that everything in the universe is connected. This quote also introduces the concept of the soul of the universe, suggestive to the idea that a person’s purpose in life centers on fulfilling one’s desires.

When “your desire originates in the soul of the Universe” means your desire and the desire of the Soul of The Universe is same.

So if you desire something with happiness and if you find joy working on that dream, then you nourished the soul of the Universe. When you nourished the soul of the Universe for that particular desire, the whole universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.

No matter how badly you want something but if you want it with desperation, if you want it because you feel sad without it then you won’t get it. If you want something with the feelings of anger or sadness or frustration, then the Universe can’t make it true for you. Because with all these negative feelings, you are weakening the soul of the Universe and making the desire die within it. You just need to keep faith in yourself and be persistent in that direction. It is the one greatest truth on this planet: whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it’s because that desire originated in the soul of the universe.”

Or – “At a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That’s the world’s greatest lie.”

Do you believe you have no control over your life? Are you who you are today, by choice or by fate? Many people have given up on their dreams. Agreed, that some of us are born to have easy lives, while some are born to take a more challenging path. Perhaps the limitations and obstacles you face today are part of your journey — you must overcome them to grow stronger on the path to achieving your goals. But sometimes somewhere along the way, your dreams get buried under the reality of daily living. The focus shifts from ‘living the dream’ to just ‘Survival first’, as they call it. The sad part is that many people spend much of their lives doing what they don’t like, I say, that’s a great way to bury your happiness and turn into an economic slave. Doing what you dislike, day after day, will numb the sense of joy within you. Soon you will feel that your life has no greater purpose, and there is nothing to look forward to but work, work, work…You will have forgotten how much fun it is to spend your time doing the things you like to do.

Another gem – “It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.”

Hope. What a wonderful four-letter word this is. The beauty of life is hidden in the hope and in the possibilities that it someday your dreams will manifest.

And another – “Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams”.

Fear holds many of us back in life. The fear of failing, of rejection and of other’s opinions can impact us so heavily that we only fail ourselves by our own inaction. We’ve heard it many times before: The thought of something is often worse than the thing itself. Don’t underestimate your own resilience. It just sums up the feeling that when you follow your heart and your intuitions, you’re going exactly on the path where you’re supposed to go.

This one always keep me motivated – “The darkest hour of midnight comes just before dawn.”

My God do I know this or what? So many times, when I have almost given up this reminds me that there is hope, even in the worst of circumstances. Life is never going to be easy, for anyone. The difficulties the hardships the daily grind of taking one more step, I mean who hasn’t been through it, right? This quote is a reminder for me and anyone reading this, that it’s just one more hour of darkness before the light hits me with its brilliance, and that I must never give up on my dreams, on my hopes.

And finally – “When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.”

Love. That word conjures up so many images in our minds. Nowadays pure, unadulterated love is so difficult to find. Why do the partners searching for perfection in the other and try to change them by moulding them in their own desired way. That’s not love but a mere illusion. They are in love with the idea of being in love. But real love should be the one that help us to find our true self. The only way love can last a lifetime is if it’s unconditional. It should be a romance that goes beyond the stars and the moon. One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.

If there is anything that I want you to take away from this post it is this: to be passionate about everything you do and to not be afraid to fail.

“Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.”

 

❤

madhavi

Live +ve

 

Many a times we feel as if we are living life in a rut. We continue doing the same things over and over again monotonously, with no respite from them, and without realizing that they are taking a toll on our mental well-being.

Often we merely manage to stay afloat in spite of the numerous hurdles just because duty calls for it. It takes a lot of nerve to stay reasonably sane. You then resort to drinking and smoking to drown out the unanswered prayers, or begin to party hard just to pretend that everything is going well.

Life sucks even more when you go online and see so many people portraying that they are having a blast.

However having a confidante or a friend who will listen to your sob stories without judging you does help. You value that at least they know where you stand. They don’t disapprove of you or try to offer a carrot stick, but genuinely understand your woes and offer you not only a shoulder to cry on but also give solutions to make your life bearable. They send you motivation morning messages everyday on WhatsApp just so that you can live through another day with a smile on your face. It does have a reassuring effect on your psyche to see that caring friends have your back, but after a few days, the gloom creeps back on you and its back to square one.

But think about it …By adopting a positive mindset, our resilience does increase along with our capacity to explore the world, while feeling confident and secure. Negative thoughts and emotions, on the other hand, can skew our perspective and in the long-term, damage our self-esteem.

It’s said that you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. There is an inherent truth to that, as we, as social creatures, pick up on the habits, behaviors, and attitudes of those around us. What that means is that if you want the strength and positivity to get through anything, you must keep your circle of friends and associates as healthy as you can. Wherever possible, and in situations such as work where you may not have control, you must learn how to practice positivity so its spreads to those around you.

Much of what we see in the world is a reflection of how we feel inside. The brain is literally creating your experience moment to moment. This means that your prefrontal cortex, which deals with your thoughts, is relaying information to your mammalian cortex, which handles emotions. These emotions then go on to inform deeper and older parts of the brain, including sensory experience and pain. This means that when we say a positive attitude can recreate your reality, it’s not just a metaphor, it’s a physiological fact!

Gratitude is a key tenet in all major philosophies, religions, and schools of thought, because gratitude is a foundation of positive thinking. When you are able to be appreciative of what you have, your brain is unable to give life and energy to thoughts about what you don’t have. Seeing events in your life as gifts allow you to perceive how they may help you grow and become a better person, and the application of this attitude during tough times is the hallmark of resilience.

Because positivity is so infectious, it naturally becomes a quality that other people want in their lives. Positivity is an extremely attractive personality trait, and it becomes an inspiration for everyone else. Writing, meditation, affirmations, and integrating more play into your life are all ways that you can rewire your brain to be more focused on the positive aspects of your experience.

And when it gets too much for you to bear, look up positive quotes, poems, articles, etc to help you tide over the misery. There’s a cliché in the personal development world that can be polarizing. Some people shy away from Positive Thinking, believing it to be cheap or tacky, while others swear by it as if it was some sort of magic pill.

And often one of the best ways to get into the habit of thinking positively is to peak into the minds of other positive people’s quotes by reading what they’ve said or written. Although our lives are filled with unexpected challenges, and some of us will have a more difficult time than others, I do hope these quotes about positivity will help you get through anything.

Sharing below some of the quotes which are my personal favorites.

 

•  “Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.”- Oprah Winfrey

 

• “Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow.”-Helen Keller

 

• “Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.”- Lucille Ball

 

• “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”-Rumi

 

•  “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” -Lao Tzu

 

• “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” –Gandhi

 

• “Tough times never last, but tough people do.”-Dr. Robert Schuller

 

• “There is only one success: to be able to spend your life in your own way.” -Christopher Morley

 

• “The best way out is always through.”-Robert Frost

 

• “Once you choose hope, anything’s possible.”-Christopher Reeve

 

• “Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.”-Napoleon Hill

 

• “The only place where your dreams become impossible is in your own thinking,”- Robert H Schuller

 

•  “We become what we think about.”- Early Nightingale

 

•  “Surround yourself with the dreamers, and the doers, the believers, and thinkers, but most of all, surround yourself with those who see the greatness within you, even when you don’t see it yourself.”-Edmund Lee

 

 

Sending you much love and hope !!

madhavi 🙂