Live your Life

“I am following my destiny. It’s not something you would understand,” said Santiago to the Alchemist. Santiago is a young shepherd boy who lived a simple life in the pastures of Andalusia. However, he courageously abandons this simple life to pursue a recurrent dream about a hidden treasure. This dream leads him on a journey where he meets many individuals such as Melchizedek, the Englishman, the Alchemist, and Fatima who teach him the Language of the World, love, and the soul of the world, before ultimately reaching his destination of Pyramids of Egypt. His encounter with the Chief in Egypt however makes him realize that his treasure actually exists in Spain, from where he started his journey. The Alchemist is the story of Santiago, the boy who follows his intuition, stays true to his path, conquers his fears, and perseveres by staying loyal to his destiny. Santiago is a wise dreamer who perseveres in the search for his destiny and who is ready to take risks in life to achieve that destiny.


Santiago is wise. Dreams occur to many people. But it takes wisdom to interpret them correctly and make the right choices. There are several examples to show his wisdom. Santiago had an easy comfortable life in Andalusia. However he abandons that easy life after meeting Melchizedek and decides to go after his destiny. His wisdom also makes him feel inspired after listening to the Bakers story, which makes him feel certain that that if he does not move on, he will live the rest of his life regretting the choice he has made. Santiago encounters several obstacles along his journey. Even after he reaches his destination in Africa, he loses everything after a boy who had promised to help him get to the pyramids ended up being a thief and steals all his money. It was easy to give up. But he had the wisdom to keep moving on and understand that he has to overcome those obstacles to achieve his destiny. There were times, when he almost gave up; “But I’m going to go back to the fields to take care of my flock again.” But he did not. His wisdom becomes evident in many occasions, when he sees beyond what is visible. He learns from the crystal merchant that it was ones decision on how to interpret their dreams. Even after Santiago meets the Alchemist he was almost certain to give up and go to live with Fatima. But his wisdom makes him understand the consequences of that action as explained by the Alchemist. When Santiago meets the chief in Egypt and hears about his dream, Santiago’s wisdom makes him realise instantly that the treasure was in Spain, right where he started from.

Santiago is a dreamer. His whole life journey is prompted by dreams. Dreams inspire him to travel. When his father tells him, “Amongst us the only ones that travel are the shepherds,” he replies; “Then I’ll be a shepherd.” - Just because he wanted to travel Santiago became a shepherd by destroying his father’s dreams of making him a priest. His repetitive dreams of a treasure in Egypt send him on a journey through unfamiliar lands and unforeseen obstacles. Santiago is a boy who lived on his intuitions. He had the capability to interpret what he sees and have intuitions on what can happen in the future. When he sees the hawks flying down, he had the intuition that something bad was going to happen in the oasis and was able to warn the chief accordingly.

Santiago is known to have taken risks to achieve his destiny. He started his journey by taking the risk of giving up his comfortable life as a shepherd, by giving up his sheep and leaving to find a treasure that he didn’t even know for sure whether it existed. In Egypt, he was ready to take the risk of going over to the side of the desert held by enemies while in search for the treasure, in order to accomplish what he started out for. He takes risks not only for himself but to help others in need also. When he saw the hawks fly down his intuition told him that the oasis was going to be in danger. But thinking about Fatima’s safety he decided to risk his life by telling the chief about his intuition. Dreams can be achieved only through courage and taking risks. It takes lot of courage and the ability to take risks in order to go on such a journey across different lands in pursuit of ones dreams.

Santiago accomplishes his destiny and fulfils his dreams by himself by taking risks and following his dreams wisely. Santiago finds greater knowledge, love and a greater understanding of himself as an individual. Santiago interprets his dreams the right way which helps him find contentment in life and live his life with no regrets. If Santiago, a simple shepherd boy fro Spain can do that, all of us can. It just takes the courage to dream high. Dreams don’t happen just like that. Dreams are a reflection of your hopes, vision and ambitions. You need to be clever and need to keep your eyes open so that you can interpret what you see in the right way and live your life accordingly. You need to take risks and have the spirit to persevere, no matter what, until you achieve those dreams.


My journey!
Santiago conquered his destiny by facing his obstacles courageously and through determination. Often I easily give up in fear of facing obstacles and thinking far too much about what others think of me. By reading the Alchemist i have learn't that the word impossible does not exist and even i can accomplish my dreams and destiny if i just think.. I CAN!! Santiago characteristics has also taught me to listen more to my heart and my inner voice which will lead you to success for sure!

This piece of art is an abstract painting and to me it looks like the colors are flowing into the black gradually covering it. So in this piece the black represents my fears and the colors represents me. Which means that im am gradually conquering my fears inorder to reach success!