The Alchemist

1.) Discovering your Personal Legend

2.) The lesson would be a group discussion that would hopefully cause everyone to start thinking about their Personal Legend: whether they have discovered it or not, pursued it or ignored it. The discussion would ask questions like: "After reading this book, how many people feel as though they know what their Personal Legend is?" "How many people feel as though they know what it is but have been too afraid to pursue it for one reason or another?" "Out of the characters in the book searching for their Personal Legend, which can you most relate to?"

3.) This purpose of this exercise is to get people to start thinking about their lives and their purpose in life. As college students, the vast majority of us are searching for our Personal Legend if we haven’t already found it and this exercise will be beneficial to get us thinking about all the “omens” in our lives that we’ve been ignoring. I truly believe that God created everyone differently for a reason and that each of us has a job that only we can do.

4.) I believe that everyone can relate to one of three characters in the book: Santiago, the boy on his quest to fulfill his Personal Legend who goes; the crystal merchant, the man who knew what his Personal Legend was but was so paralyzed by his fear of change that he never pursued it; or the Englishmen, searching to discover his Personal Legend by studying other people. Everyone has their Melchizedek, caravan leader, and alchemist- these are the people that God places at different points in our lives to keep us heading down our path. They don’t give us the answers we are looking for but they cause us to discover the answers for ourselves. Their truths are brought to our minds continually either through circumstances or in the words of others. While we are on our Personal Legend, we will run into other people on the same quest that can very easily discourage us from persevering. When Santiago met the crystal merchant, he was at a very low point and had resolved to give up and go home. During his time with the crystal merchant, Santiago came to realize that this man hadn’t pursued his Personal Legend out of fear and it ultimately became the fire underneath Santiago to help him continue his quest and not settle like the merchant. The same way we can be hindered in our quest by others, we can try to walk out other people’s quests the way Englishman did without fully pursuing our own. He had to get past reading about things to experience things for himself. Every circumstance we find ourselves in is a learning one: from a shepherd, to a crystal merchant, to an oasis counselor. If we take the time to pay attention to what happens around us- the omens- we can be part of some amazing things. Ultimately I feel as though the personification of the heart, wind, sun, etc. represent our personal battle with ourselves and with God. The answers we need in life come from our relationship with God even though we have people who help us along the way to discover it. We need to look inside ourselves: listen to our conscious and the truths we have learned from our relationship with the Lord in order to fulfill our Personal Legend.