Last month I blogged about books falling off the shelves, and wrote that since I work in a bookstore, not every book that falls off the shelf in front of me is some kind of sign, though some are. What I neglected to mention, because I didn't think it was relevant, was that The Alchemist was the book I was picturing on the floor when I wrote that. I had assumed that since it was on every school's summer reading list and we had too many crammed on the shelf, it was only normal that one would fall...every day.
That blog was about the teacher appearing when the student is ready, and that lately most of the books I have been reading have shared a theme: It is never too late to follow your dreams and do what you know in your soul you were meant to do. For me, that dream is to be a writer, and everything I am reading keeps reminding me that I can still do it...I just have to DO it.
Anyway, all summer when someone asked for The Alchemist I thought, "I should read that book", but I never even read the back cover to see what it was about. Something just told me I should read it. Still, I resisted for some reason, until this week.
Oprah's guest on Super Soul Sunday was the author of The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho. It was his first ever interview on American television. I quickly learned that the book was about making choices to achieve your personal legend. In other words, don't give up on the one thing you really want to do. What? I was stunned. Did I want to read The Alchemist? That was no longer a question. Now I HAD to read it.
I am short on funds, and had already bought a book this week (The Daily Love by Mastin Kipp, fyi) so I couldn't justify buying a copy. I can borrow books from work, but they have to be hardcover, with a jacket that stays at the store, and we only had it in paperback, so that wasn't an option. I compared the Amazon price and the Barnes & Noble price for the ebook but still couldn't swing it. I checked my library app but it wasn't available. I had to wait.
I hate to wait when it is time for me to read something.
That was Sunday. On Tuesday I had an unexplained bad day where I could not get out of my funk. I have maybe four of these days a year. Every other day I am the happiest person you could meet. Because of this, I wasn't paying my usual attention to the New Releases. I didn't notice until Wednesday that a hardcover copy of the 25th anniversary edition of The Alchemist was released. The Universe literally shoved this book into my hands. I borrowed it, but will most likely buy it now.
In no time I knew that this book would change my life. The theme is "When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it". As I read, if a particular part resonates with me, I am going to share how it affected me in a blog. I hope you will follow along, and perhaps start reading it yourself and you can share how it affects you.
Watch Part Two of Oprah's interview with Paulo Coelho this Super Soul Sunday morning on OWN.
Follow @Oprah @OWNTV @SuperSoulSunday @paulocoelho @MastinKipp @TheDailyLove
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