The Alchemist - Living Your Dreams

When we pick up our story from where we last left, Santiago had met up with Melchizedek and was stuck with the decision to choose between something he had become accustomed to and something he wanted to have. Santiago did what most people do and came up with excuses for why he should stay with the familiar, but then he came to the realization that those that loved him got used to him being away as a shepherd, just as they got used to him being away, so will his sheep.
How can you apply this same logic to a situation you are facing in reaching your Personal Legend? What is the main message that the author is trying to get to the reader?


“In order to find the treasure, you will have to follow the omens. God has prepared a path for everyone to follow. You just have to read the omens that he left for you.”
Can you identify any of the “omens” that are trying to direct you to the treasure God has in store for your life?

Melchizedek tells Santiago a story that ends with the follow statement – “The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon.”
What does this bit of wisdom mean to you? Share with us your revelation.

When Santiago arrives in Africa he is tricked out of his money. While he is licking his wounds he realizes that the owner of the bar was actually trying to help him as opposed to harm him when he grabbed him. Santiago makes the statement, “I’m like everyone else – I see the world in terms of what I would like to see happen, not what actually does.”
Can you think of a time (s) when you misread the intentions of others as bad when they actually meant you well? If those people were close to you, did you change your feelings towards those persons in a heart of reconciliation?

Do you make it a habit to think of yourself as a poor victim or an adventurer in a quest toward your treasure?
Can you see the benefit of making a shift in your thinking as it relates to obtaining your Personal Legend?

As Santiago watched the candy merchant he realized he could sense whether a person was near to or far from his Personal Legend. Just by looking at them.
Think about the people you surround yourself with on a daily basis, would you say you are around more people who are near their Personal Legend or around those that are far from their Personal Legend? How is the company you are in affecting your outlook?

Santiago realized that even in a strange land, he was applying the same lessons he had learned with his sheep. “All things are one,” the old man had said.
Have you found this to be true in your own life? How have you applied it?

Toward the end of Part One, Santiago meets a crystal merchant who he puts a days work in with. The crystal merchant informs Santiago that he couldn’t possible make enough money to get to Egypt, even if he worked an entire year. The crystal merchant offers to give him the money he needs to get back home. Instead, Santiago decides that he will work for him so that he can buy more sheep.
How does this bode with you the reader that even knowing that the “omens” are with him, that he is still discouraged about his plight. What lesson are we to learn from this exchange? What words of Melchizedek can we relate to this situation?


Participants:

Feel free to respond to any question offered or pose another question as it relates to the study of insights brought forth by the author in part one of The Alchemist.



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