I can’t believe it is November already!! It is FREEZING – and it’s not even 40 degrees! Every year I swear I am going to move somewhere warmer… it needs to happen. It’s so cold (for me, anyhow) that i drove my car to the gym (its up the driveway at my apartments) because I didn’t want to walk in the cold for 2 minutes. Then, I got to the gym, did a few sit ups, and stopped. I said, “I just can’t do this today!!!!” THAT is when you know I am cold, because I don’t give up that easily on workouts… ever. So, I came home, made some hot tea and ate some paleo pumpkin bars. and this is what i pretty much looked like:
This is me, except I have 2 pairs of socks on.
Oy. I need to turn on the heat!
my yummy paleo pumpkin bars!! Just pumpkin puree, almond butter, eggs, baking powder, pumpkin spice & stevia. perfect with a hot cup of tea 🙂
Anyways, I recently just discovered the author Paulo Coelho, and i am HOOKED. I can’t really explain it, but this guy speaks to my core being. I just get it. and feel it. His writing is like bits of my soul, but in words. I just finished the Pilgrimage and The Warrior of Light, but my favorite so far has been The Alchemist. There were a few quotes that really stuck out to me (well, more like the ENTIRE book, but I don’t have time to write a book report), and the one below is a pretty good one that pretty much pertains to every person on this planet.
“…but bakers are more important people than shepherds. Bakers have homes, while shepherds sleep out in the open. Parents would rather see their children marry bakers rather than shepherds.”
The boy felt a pang in his heart, thinking about the merchants daughter. There was surely a baker in her town.
The old man continued, “In the long run, what people think about shepherd and bakers becomes more important for them than their own Personal Legends.”
-The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
This resonated with me because of its truth. This day an age, its better to be a rich CEO (the baker) than a poor teacher (the shepherd). And people go through their lives, focusing on becoming that rich CEO and being someone important, rather than following their Personal Legend (purpose in life, dreams). How terrible is that?
At some point in everyone’s lives, we all wanted to be something. Passionately. Whether it was a passing phase, like wanting to be an astronaut, the president, etc, or something solid, like a real career – an athlete, teacher, etc… it was something we believed in and wanted so deeply that we would have given ANYTHING to make our dreams come true. But as we got older, that love, that passion slowly disappeared. We forgot about that flame burning inside of us, and we focused our sights on materialistic things and cared about what other people thought. How did this happen? Where did we go wrong?
I know I still have that passion inside of me – but its buried deep. I don’t know what my personal legend is, but I want to know. I am angry that all these years I have been robbed – robbed of my passion, my joy, my love, my freedom to believe that anything could come true if I put my mind to it. Now the only question is – how can I find it? How can you find it? After reading the Alchemist, it became clear to me – whatever my passion is, whatever my purpose in life is – as long as I keep looking for it, as long as I don’t give up – that’s all that matters. Because on my journey to find my Personal legend, I will become wiser, learn more, take leaps of faith, never settle and live a very fulfilling life witha lot of adventures. And that might just be even better than the end goal.
-S&S
