No Limits

No Limits

“Allah created the armies and he also created the hawks. Allah taught me the language of the birds. Every thing has been written by the same hand.” (Coelho 106) In The Alchemist: Santiago, an adventurous young shepherd boy from the pastures of Andalusia, courageously leaves his homeland to achieve his destiny. After a meeting with a gypsy who interpreted his dream and a mysterious wise old king, Santiago sets off from his home in Spain and begins his lengthy journey in search of his destiny in the mysterious deserts of Egypt, to eventually reach the pyramids. Throughout his destiny Santiago encounters many distinct characters that help him on his way. Santiago achieves his destiny by making wise decisions, by bravely overcoming obstacles, and staying loyal to himself and others.

Throughout his journey, Santiago acquires wisdom and knowledge in variety of ways, which later on help him achieve his destiny. First Santiago encounters Melchizedek the King of Salem whom he learns about the force that conspires to help you from. After having a repeated dream, Santiago pays a visit to a gypsy who interprets his dream as a hidden treasure in the pyramids. Uncertain of what to do, Santiago receives a mysterious visit from King Melchizedek who explains to him that ones destiny is not something you can ignore. Every one gets a chance to pursue their destiny but only some have the courage to take that chance and go after their own personal legend. Later on, when Santiago has started his journey he ends up in the markets of Tangier working for a crystal merchant. The crystal merchant, a wise and faithful old man teaches Santiago about “Maktub” and ones own destiny. During his time working for the crystal merchant, Santiago realizes that not everyone is destined to follow and achieve his or her destiny. Some are just meant to dream about their destiny in order to have a purpose in their lives. Finally, at the end of the story, Santiago learns how to reach into the soul of the world by listening to his heart. The Alchemist tests Santiago to connect to the soul of the world by turning himself into the wind. He learns to listen and trust his heart in order to accomplish this task. While trying to do so Santiago states, “(L)ove is the force that transforms and improves the world…we always strive to become better than we are.” (143-144) During this part of the story, Santiago understands that it is love that connects everyone to the soul of the world, and, in order to truly understand and connect to the soul of the world, you have to listen to your heart. Thus, Santiago learns that the soul of the world and your heart are connected and work together to help you strive to be your best and achieve your destiny. Wisdom, as Santiago has learned, is a crucial part in achieving his destiny, but he also needs to find the courage to overcome obstacles.

On his journey, Santiago bravely overcomes a variety of obstacles in order to achieve his destiny. After having been told about a treasure hidden under the pyramids and an encounter with the king of Salem, Santiago is left doubtful about his next step. As King Melchizedek told him in the end the decision of what to do is up to him. Santiago has been accustomed to the Sheppard life for so long and he is fearful of leaving the borders of his beloved home Andalusia and traveling to a new and strange land, and in a way he is afraid of failure. But when he referred back to what the old king said “every individual is charged with a destiny, but few are brave enough to pursue it once it has been discovered.” He decided that he would be brave and follow his destiny. Santiago showed bravery by this act because he was willing to give up everything he had in Andalusia and begin a new adventure. Later on in his journey, Santiago showed bravery in his first encounter with the alchemist. The alchemist appeared as a frightening and powerful figure armed with a sword challenging Santiago. But not only did he not run but he stood in front of him without fearing death, strong and confident and that proved to the alchemist that Santiago had connected to the soul of the word and he possessed courage. Later he stated, “Courage is the quality most essential to understanding the language of the world.” (106) During their conversation the alchemist taught Santiago that fear is the only thing that stops us from following our destiny if we are fearful we will never be able to move forward and achieve our personal legend. Afterward the alchemist encouraged Santiago not to give up and continue on his journey to discover his destiny. Soon after Santiago came face to face with another obstacle. While he was traveling with the alchemist in the desert a military camp that insisted that they were spies captured them. But the alchemist once again challenges Santiago to turn himself into the wind and prove his skills to the military camp. Santiago bravely took on the challenge and by listening to his heart he managed to turn himself into the wind. He proved to himself and the alchemist how brave and courageous he really was by standing in front of the military camp leaders and trusting his heart to show him the way into the soul of the world. Thus Santiago found the courage to overcome the obstacles blocking his way, however he must learn to stay loyal to himself and others around him.

Santiago must remember that in order to be successful he must stay loyal to himself and others around him. At the beginning of the story, when Santiago is just a common young shepherd he is very dependent and loyal to his sheep. At that time his sheep were his only companion so he relied on them for support and companionship. This made him greatly loyal to his sheep. His sheep became dependant on him for food and water, thus they began to rely less on their instinct and more on him to take good care of them. The sheep are significant because they mark where Santiago started, in the pastures of Andalusia as a common shepherd boy, and they also show where he ended up and returned to. Santiago also believed that they could understand what he said and that they could teach him everything he needed to know, thus it was an extremely difficult decision for him to leave his sheep and follow his destiny. Further on in the story Santiago meets Fatima, a woman of the dessert at an oasis. There, he realizes that he loves Fatima and wants to spend the rest of his life with her. But he still has a journey to complete in order to reach his destiny. He is undecided about what to do because he has found his true love and he is loyal to her. Fatima though, understands the importance of Santiago’s journey and encourages him to follow his destiny and that she knows he will stay loyal to her. Later on he states, “Men dream more about coming home than about leaving.” (118) When Santiago said this, it proved how loyal he was to Fatima, because is showed how much he desired to stay with her and that he will always be thinking of her on his journey. The alchemist understood how loyal Santiago was to Fatima and that in his heart he had lost the desire to continue on with his journey, so he advised him not to dwell on what he left behind, but to move forward and maybe someday he may return to his love if he truly is loyal. Further on, in his travels through the dessert, Santiago learns to be loyal to his heart. In many stages through his journey Santiago was lost and unsure of what to do, but he took the alchemists guidance and stayed loyal to his heart and listened to what it had to say, thus he found the right path. His heart was what provided him with a direct path into the soul of the world. By being loyal to himself, others and his heart, Santiago managed to conquer obstacle, find love and achieve his true destiny.

After departing his home in the pastures of Andalusia and leaving all he knew behind, Santiago begins his lengthy journey in search of his destiny. By being wise in decision making, having the bravery to overcome obstacles and staying loyal, Santiago managed to reach his goal and achieve his destiny. In the end, Santiago returns home, and he realized that his treasure wasn’t the gold or jewels he was persevering for, but the journey itself and knowledge he learned on the way. Santiago’s journey teaches us that the outcome is not the most important aspect in seeking a goal, but rather what we discover about our world and ourselves along the way. If we can remember this, there will be no limits for us in achieving our true destiny.



Supportive

Life brings us face to face with many obstacles, but in order to conquer them we need the support of those around us, as they need ours. It is a fact that everyone needs support and encouragement in some stage of their lives and it is important to remember, so that when someone is in need of support we are always their. Like in The Alchemist, Santiago would not have been able to achieve his destiny if not for all the support he had from varies individuals. I have learned that the best way to show you are a good friend is supporting your friends no matter what and always being by their side. This is also important for me to make close bonds with my friends. By being supportive. I have managed to make and keep and wide range of friends form all over the world, which are always supportive and loyal. However it is not always easy to maintain that supportive insight, because there are times, when being too supportive can lead to bad decisions and ruin a friendship. In order to be a good and supportive friend we have to be able to tell whether we are supporting our friends of the right reason. As Santiago learns that in the end the choice of what step to take next is up to us no matter all the other sources that influence us.  Like Santiago, by being supportive and embracing this trait I managed to fully participant in my destiny.