Elaine Reflects on The Alchemist, Part Two

"The candy seller had a smile on his face: he was happy, aware of what his life was about, and ready to begin a day's work. [He] isn't making candy so that later he can travel or marry a shopkeeper's daughter. He's doing it because it's what he wants to do."

They say if you do something you love, you never work a day in your life. I know that is true, because if I could just be a bookseller at work, without all the manager responsibilities, I would be as happy as a clam! As it is, I am still about 94% happy to be at work. Every customer gets a huge, genuine smile, and I laugh and have fun with them while finding the books they are seeking.

I am in my element, being in a bookstore. I love the book business, I want to be a writer, I follow writers and publishers on social media, and care about getting great books into the hands of voracious readers. I love introducing my favorite books from my childhood to kids who want to read. If I need to work to survive, there is no job that would make me happier. I am sure I could settle in for the long haul and be content doing this job forever, but there is something I can't ignore: I am a not destined to be a retail manager.

If I get too comfy, I will slack on my writing, and will eventually give in to the responsibilities of life. I would still be happy--no question about it--but I wouldn't be realizing my Personal Legend, and I wouldn't be satisfied, because there would always be something missing. If I did not have this deep soul need to do something more significant, I would be like the Candy Seller, having a ball selling books. I am so close to 100% happy doing that, I cannot imagine how delirious I would be if I were able to make a living as a writer, but I do know that life would be exponentially better.

I have decided to put more energy into my writing. I am not working 60 hours per week anymore, so even if I give my all to the day job, I'll still have something left over to be creative. I still want to get promoted when and if the time comes, but I cannot be so focused on that anymore. If I put half the effort into writing that I used to put into advancing my career, I would have a book released every year! Finding that balance is much easier than I once thought it would be, and writing blog posts has kept me in practice.

I have also come to realize that I have been shortsighted in my quest to be a writer, and that has been holding me back from my true purpose. Writing is a part of it, of course, but my focus on being a writer was only beneficial to me. I want to be more than that. I want my books to inspire and motivate others. I realized that I need to be a Life Coach, Self Help Guru, Positivity Generator, or something of that nature, and through that, my writing will find its audience. When I finally realized this, everything changed. I will not be a bookseller forever. My job does not define me, and it is not a life sentence.

Elaine Reflects on The Alchemist, Part One

"That was what made travelling appeal to him--he always made new friends, and he didn't need to spend all of his time with them. When someone sees the same people every day...they wind up becoming a part of that person's life. And then they want the person to change. If someone isn't what others want them to be, the others become angry. Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own."
~Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

I am a friendly person who makes friends easily, but in the later years of my life, I have learned not to let anyone get so close that they develop expectations. I had a lot of long-term best friends in my life. The key word there was 'had'. The more I gave to each of these relationships, the more I was expected to be whatever they needed me to be, and they had come to expect more and more. I am sure it was not all one-sided, as I probably had my share of expectations, but having always been a people-pleaser, I gave and gave until one by one, they learned that I had had enough.

Shout out to my BFF Michelle, who is halfway across the USA, therefore making it nearly impossible to have unrealistic expectations of our friendship. Even if she and I lived closer, I still think our friendship would be the same for two reasons: 1) she is one of the most genuine people I have ever met, and quite self-sufficient in her own life; and 2) she is the first friend that I made where I didn't have to live up to any preconceived notions. We met a week after I moved from Connecticut to Florida where I didn't know anyone. I was away for the first time from my family and the people I had grown up with. No one knew me, so I could be myself. I was the authentic Me when I met Michelle, which is why our friendship has endured for 23 years. (We still laugh that we proved our then boss wrong. He mocked us for planning to meet at the Hard Rock in Orlando in ten years. He said in ten years we wouldn't even remember each other. HA. We may not have made it back to Florida, but we were at each others' weddings!)

The reason this quote resonated with me, is because I am finally at a point in my life where the only person putting demands on my time is me. The husband and the dog get as much of my time as they want, because that is the deal, but other than that, I am the only one standing in my way now. If I want to spend the evening writing, reading or even playing Candy Crush, that is up to me. If I never get that book finished I have no one to blame but myself.

The dream is real now, because I have cleared away the so called clutter in my life so that I can focus on MY dreams, on what I want from MY life. I am sure that sounds selfish, but I spent most of my life being unselfish and that did not get me anywhere. I am not suggesting you ditch your friends and family to go after what you want, but set some healthy boundaries to ensure that you have time for yourself. After a lifetime of being the good friend, the good daughter, the good employee, the good cousin, et cetera, I had a hard time setting boundaries. I had to literally move out of state to truly have my own life.

Now that I have it, it is time to do something with it.

Book Review: How To Succeed In Business Without Really Crying

How To Succeed In Business Without Really Crying by Carol Leifer should really be shelved under Career Planning. Just yesterday a customer asked me where our career books were, and before I brought her to Business, we took a detour to Biography so that I could tell her how freaking awesome this book is for the job hunter as well as the ladder climber.

The story of Carol's life as a female comedian who never gave up was fascinating and inspiring, and the tales of her interactions with comedy legends were laugh out loud funny. (Excuse me, Carol, but it looks like you dropped a few names...) I read parts of it aloud incoherently to my husband, laughing so hard that all the words came out as "bleerhaHAHArghxchHAHAefh". Hilarious anecdotes aside, the thread that ran through the whole book was about how the way you treat people throughout your career will ultimately decide your success or failure in any business. That, along with hard work and determination, of course.

I love the fact that she started with the basics of the interview, even specfically reminding the guys to "shower the day of the interview. Not the night before. Not a week before". She then continued through getting the job, handling rejection, keeping the job, et cetera, using stories of things that had either worked or not worked for her, depending on whether or not she had practiced what she was preaching. This was a unique way to give excellent career advice without being a dry, boring business book.

This is perfect for anyone just starting out in the world of employment, those wanting to advance, or anyone who is taking a fresh look at following a dream career path on which they had given up. If you don't take away at least one career-changing tip from this book, you probably won't be hired for that dream job anyway, but at least you would have had a good chuckle in the process!