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Friday, April 26, 2013

Have You Learned The Alchemist Secret to Realizing your Dreams?

The Alchemist is one of those books that I bought after repeatedly hearing it was a must readand then it sat unread for a couple years in the must-read pile on my bookshelf with about a dozen other must-read books.  

In March, I took it and most of the pile on vacation with me, figuring if they were the only books I had with me, Id finally check them off my list. 

In one of lifes coincidences that I suspect isnt a coincidence at all, March turned out to be exactly the right time for me to read it. 

The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho is what I term non-fiction disguised as fictiona fable-like tale about the four obstacles that block our courage, holding us back from realizing our dreams.  

The first obstacle is being told repeatedly our dream is impossibleand believing it.  The second obstacle might surprise you--its love. The idea is that we put our loved ones first and often forfeit our dream rather than neglect them to singularly pursue it. The next two obstacles are both about fear. Third is the understandable fear of failing and Fourthlike love it might surprise youthe fear of realizing our dreamwhich is often due to guilt or insecurity. 

For me, the timing for reading The Alchemist was so perfect because it coincided with realizing my dream of publishing my first novel, Peace by Piece. You might see publishing as the end of the journey, but to me it presented a new set of obstaclesthe dreaded learning curve to social network and market. Heres what my obstacles sounded like in real life.

·         I'm not a techie, I can't do this computer mumbo-jumbo online marketing stuff  (First obstacle)
·         Even if I could learn to social network and market, it will be so time consuming, Ill never have time with Jim (Second obstacle)
·         What if I spend all that time social networking and marketing and still no one buys my book? (Third obstacle)
·         What if Im successful and Oprah, or Ellen, or Katie discover Peace by Piece and tell women to read it? How would my life have to change? 

The Alchemists secret is in understanding that in spite of being worthy of our dreams, we all hit obstacles and fall downand that reaching your dreams is about BELIEVING you will always get up one more time than the number of times you fall. 

Do you believe you are worthy of your dreams? And, what will you do to pick yourself up the next time you fall down?
 

9 comments:

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  2. This sounds real interesting Carol. Thanks for sharing. I shared a link on my blog. You're welcome to visit at http://www.angelsefer.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks for stopping by and for sharing the link. 'll check out your blog

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    2. I enjoyed The Alchemist too, Carol. Your comments on dreams are so true. Dream following isn't as easy as it sounds.

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  3. This post (and the book) remind me of that saying: "Be careful what you wish for, you might get it." It sounds like we are afraid of change, doesn't it? Sounds like I need to read the Alchemist too. Thanks for the book tip/

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  4. Peggy, good to hear from you

    Chris, I haven't tought about that saying for a long time, but it sums it up.
    I have my copy and will hand it off to you next time you're down for a visit. Hopefully, soon. carol

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  5. Great post Carol...The Alchemist is one of my favorites. And I am absolutely positive you got around to reading it at exactly the moment you needed to!

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  6. I too, love The Alchemist. I have a well-worn copy that I pull out from time to time when I need some help to keep pursuing one of my dreams. Thanks for reminding me of it, Carol.

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