Finding our Dream

We are all on a journey, whether we are conscious of it or not. In his book, The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho addresses this issue. He chronicles a young man and his dreams. In the beginning, all the boy wants is to be a shepherd. This is not the trade of his father or family. This is something he chose for himself, and he works hard to buy sheep and leave all he knows to travel around his country, selling his wool. He is happy, for a time. But then something happens to change all that: he has a dream.

In his dream, there is greater treasure to be found, but not in his land. He must go to Egypt. The boy is troubled, and seeks advise and counsel. All point to the same truth: if you want to really fulfill your dream, you will have to take the steps necessary, even if that means great sacrifice. The boy sells his sheep, and armed with this money, sails for the coast of Africa. He barely arrives when he is robbed of everything. It could be the end of this story, but it is not. He takes a job working for a crystal shop, learns how to read omens, and saves up enough money to continue his journey. Where most of us might give up, he goes forward.

In Coelho's story, this is just one of many trials that the boy encounters. On and on the boy goes, never letting the difficulties or dangers he faces keep him from following his dream. As he moves, he grows, changes, intuits more and more, and does in fact come to find his treasure. When he discovers it, he finds the best aspect of his journey is the change he experiences within himself.

Our journey is unique to each of us. Failure will happen on our journey, and threaten to end it all. It is for us to continue to hope and believe, to continue forward in another direction, to never give up. Such are the things great women and men are made of. Such is the goal of our lives. And in this very goal, we will become transformed.