Your Personal Legend
My brother Ethan gave me a book called The Alchemist a few years ago. It had been sitting on my bookshelf collecting dust ever since. He strongly recommended I read it. I said sure, but of course, I naturally set it to the side because I said I was “too busy” to read it (more like putting my priorities in the wrong places). I mean let’s be honest. I had time for Netflix but no time for a book. Then, my friend Emily said this book was life-changing for her in a way that her perspective on life was entirely altered. Finally when I was in the intensive outpatient program this past September, a fellow patient and friend of mine said his goal was to read a page of a book everyday. A simplistic yet manageable and easy to accomplish goal. He said the book he was reading right then was The Alchemist in Spanish. As you can tell, I was really receiving signs to read this book. Perhaps as Coelho would call them- omens. Finally, I sat down and started reading. It is such a naturally addictive book. Something about it pulls you in. Lately, I’ve been leaning more towards these kinds of books: nonfiction, personal accounts, self-help, research based, advice given books. So, I was hesitant, skeptical, reluctant (whatever word you may choose) to read this book at first. As I started reading though, I saw this book contained universally fundamental truths that were grappling to the heart. It’s funny how the things that I continue to overlook end up being the best things in my life (ex: the University of San Francisco). It’s like when I let go, good things arise from the most unexpected.
You do not have to be religious in order to read this book. It is for everyone. As a personal follower, believer, and disciple of Christ, it really hit home and showed me some highly insightful questions and answers when it came to God. I was made to evaluate my own life.
The Alchemist is far more than a story about a boy who first sees himself as merely a shepherd boy. Throughout the story, the boy Santiago meets an array of people along his journey to find his own personal legend and treasure. It offers lessons and realizations that can be applied to each and every person’s life. It is about answering your calling (an elemental theme I keep stressing throughout my articles) to find your personal legend as well as discovering oneself through that journey. It is a philosophical piece of literature that has spiritual, metaphorical, and transcendental meanings that can be incorporated into our lives and guide us to find what REALLY matters in this life we are each given. The author Paulo Coelho pinpoints four obstacles when it comes to following our legend to accomplish our personal calling.
The first is that we are told from the get go, even as children, that our dreams are impossible and unrealistic. It comes from all around us: society, adults, others our own age, even ourselves, etc. Skepticism is issued so much it soon becomes the truth in our minds. Phrases like “You can’t do that. That’s not a real job. You have to be practical. How in the world are you possibly going to accomplish that? You might start it, but you’ll never follow through with it.” echo in our heads. Before you know it, your dream becomes invisible as Coelho says.
Secondly, love comes in between us and our dream. We are so afraid we will hurt those around us by leaving everyone and all that we have to chase after our dream. We are afraid they will think we do not love them. We are afraid they will come to abhor us and want nothing to do with us ever again. But, we have yet to realize that love should further us to pursue our dream. Those who truly love us will want the best for us and see us through on our journey.
Next, our fear of failing attempts to set us backward. We become so fearful of falling down that we forget to even take a step forward. Defeats are needed for learning and growth. If we do not fail, we do not make mistakes and we do not learn from those mistakes. It is impossible as humans to be perfect. We are sinful beings who make mistakes time after time. Coelho gives us wisdom like none other by saying, “The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.”
Lastly, our mind tries to trick us at the final step of the race. We see that we are about to accomplish our dream and feel guilty for doing so. There are so many people that have tried and failed. We say to ourselves, “Why am I the lucky one?” Yet, we fail to realize all of the trials and obstacles we have gone through in order to get to where we are. Coelho states, “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.”
These four realizations are expanded upon in the story of the boy Santiago. Along with that, Coelho echoes truth especially at some of the topics that are often questioned. For example, Coelho issues that fear of struggle is often more painful than the struggle itself. We are so focused on the fact that we are going to suffer and it is going to be painful that our mind ends up suffering before the struggle even happens. Wow psyche, way to fake us out.
How does this apply to mental health? You’re probably thinking that was an entire babble of a book review and how it changed my life but didn’t really do much to yours. Well if you have stuck with me this far, then you are about to find out. If you can’t tell, I don’t get to the point very quickly. Sorry not sorry. I wanted you to have a background of knowledge before I start with the applications into our lives and mental health.
First off, I have always questioned why the good people in life get dealt with the worst things and the bad people in life get dealt with the easiest and best things. Isn’t that the wrong way to see it all together though? We are all equal. I continue to believe in equal is equal no matter the people, yet I judge people by seeing how they treat others. I do not know what they are going through. They may be acting that way to cover up something that is truly hard to go through. We all have a story. We all go through something. It doesn’t mean we should entirely excuse them for treating others this way. It just means we need to try to look at the person for more than who they seem on the surface level. Try to find empathy, not sympathy. When it comes to my bipolar depression and anxiety, I put on these glasses of tunnel vision and start to feel like I am the victim and the whole world is against me. Nothing is going right, and nothing will ever go right. I forget to see that others struggle and have dreams and fight to find joy in life. We all want the basics things which are to be loved and find joy. I realized I needed to stop playing the victim and start being the person I was called to be. I needed to be an advocate, a helper, a voice in a storm of judgement, confusion, and skepticism. So while your struggles are hard and you would never wish them on someone, it does not give you the right to sit in a pity party and say how life is so unfair. It’s life! That is how it goes! Display poise, grace, and optimism in the face of failure and injustice. Get up and show the world who is boss. Your struggles of mental illness you fight against each and every day will try to make you compare your life to others. They will try to convince you to see life in a way that is distorted. For me, I am a badass girl boss. I do not care who says or thinks otherwise. I believe it, and I believe that I can be that badass girl boss to help others see that life is full. To see that you can live life feeling alive than just going through the motions. You can be optimistic in the face of suffering. You can follow your personal legend that God gave you and be a force of something far greater than yourself. Do that thing your heart has been tugging at for so long. There will be hurdles along the way which you can now identify/categorize as Coelho’s four obstacles. Yet, if you stick to it, you will indeed succeed at your dream. Go out there and kickass!
Love always,B
