Your Personal Legend

Discuss the September 2014 book of the month, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.
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3chicnP
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Re: Your Personal Legend

Post by 3chicnP »

I honestly don't know how it would feel. Must be really hard to live that way.
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marokee
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Post by marokee »

I've contemplated this a few times and what I find absolutely terrifying is the lack of certainty the future holds. This remains true for the present as it is perpetually the future, but to drop everything and move in another direction. I'm currently single and working as a nurse and I've thought several times about joining the military, becoming a police officer, or doing something entirely different. What holds me back is the security of being in a strong profession with a regular paycheck. gahhhhhh. frustrating.
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Post by ElphabaEvans »

If I could take my family I totally would! I can't see how my personal legend wouldn't include them, so I think that would be safe. I've recently felt very cluttered by my belongings, so the material possessions part would be very easy for me to walk away from I think!
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Katherine E Wall
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Post by Katherine E Wall »

I have always wanted to do something like that, but there has always been heavy responsibilities on my shoulders. From the time I was a young girl and my mother first became ill, I have been the one that everyone seemed to turn to. I always thought, when this is over, then I will go on my quest. Yet, there was always another yoke to put on. I am beginning to realize that my own personal quest was exactly what I have been doing. My legend is to be there for others, to share in their journey, and to help shoulder their burdens. Interesting how life works.
"We awaken the muse with the spirit of creativity. We entomb it with the ghoul of self-doubt."

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Post by gervaisk »

I sure did. I gave up everything I had back home. We picked up, sold everything and moved across Canada to go live in the Rocky Mountains in order to give our family a better life. Sometimes we get to preoccupied with the material things in life, we forget about what is most important to us. I'm so happy I followed my heart. We couldn't be happier.
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Post by Himmelslicht »

I have done that once at least.
I fell in love with my husband back then when I had the opportunity to study abroad (in Finland). A part of me regrets not going, but at the same time I know that probably I wouldn't be where I am today, and I consider myself very happy :)
"Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world."
- Gustave Flaubert
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Post by melbuhtoast »

This is also something that I've thought about through different parts of my life. When I graduated from college, I was at a crossroads of so many different decisions, and I ended up choosing what I thought was the "easiest" path, mainly due to monetary constraints and fear. What I've found looking back at my life now is that you make your own destiny. You can seek your personal legend no matter where you are in your life - it's just up to you to decide that it's time.
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Post by angelbeats1 »

I probably could
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Post by CataclysmicKnight »

If I were single, I'd have no problem with it, but before I had my now-ex and now I have my fiancée, and that means that losing everything includes losing everything for her as well. I did quit my "real job" to try a shot at my dream of living off of making video games from home... I made it a full year liger than I thought I would, but once savings got low i got a job again. I don't consider it a failure though, it was a really awesome experience and I learned a LOT from it
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aliba12
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Post by aliba12 »

You can leave all behind, you need to be brave and go for whatever makes you happy, hard but at some point it will be worthy ;)
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Post by MissJane »

It is a scary thing to think about leaving everything behind to chase your dreams... often many dreams are cast away for fear of the unknown. It is not worth it to trade material things for your happiness! If you have a dream, chase it, but chase your dreams with no fear! Be brave!
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Post by Cee-Jay Aurinko »

Yes. The book clearly divides people into two kinds of people. Those who follow their destiny, and those that are too afraid to take a chance. I know what my reason for being here is, and it feels good. "All the universe conspires to help you achieve your destiny."
"Might as well drink the ocean with a spoon as argue with a lover." -- The Dark Tower 2, Stephen King
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Post by iekelek23 »

NanoWasabi wrote:I would love to do something like that, partly because there's not a lot of stuff that I would be leaving behind. I do have a family, but I will eventually leave them anyways to go to college, and I don't consider my physical stuff to be that important. If I knew exactly what my personal legend was supposed to be, then I would follow it in a heartbeat.
You'll figure it out; that's one of the things college is for--not necessarily to give you 100% certainty about your future, but to give you the tools to make decisions about it as you go through life.

I say this as a translator who ended up teaching English abroad a year after graduation--and loving it!
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Post by Circling Turtle »

Fear of failure (and even success!) has always held me back from taking risks. For a long time I avoided pursuing what I see as my Personal Legend for various reasons. I was scared that people wouldn't take me seriously, that I'd be ridiculed or rejected. I didn't want to leave my comfort zone. Yet my Personal Legend seems to have caught up with me nonetheless! Through a series of coincidences and both good and (as it seemed at the time) bad luck, I am finally on the (very windy) road to achieving at least one aspect of my potential. Pursuing a Personal Legend doesn't have to be physically leaving behind your family and possessions, it can involve a more subtle shedding of old beliefs and ways of thinking. And sometimes your 'Personal Legend' isn't what you might think it is.

I am always accused of 'magical thinking' and ascribing events more symbolism then they deserve, but this has helped me make sense of an otherwise senseless life. I still have major hangups about my possessions though; having lost so many in the past, I cling to them as external identifiers of myself. I'm sure that this will pass though. Life seems to be pushing me in the direction that will require a sacrifice in that respect. As NanoWasabi says, if I knew that what I was pursuing was in line with my Personal Legend than perhaps it wouldn't be so difficult, but doubt prevails.
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Post by Serena_Charlotte »

Before I started reading The Alchemist, I wouldn't have given up anything to go on an adventure to find my Personal Legend but after reading what the the camel driver said about looking in the present and future ("If you concentrate always on the present you'll be a happy man"), I think I would drop everything and go on a life-changing adventure.
Where is the line between insanity and creativity?
Is the reality of the world different from how we perceive and experience it in our minds? Does physical reality exist apart from the human mind?
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