A Personal Legend, as it is stated in The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, is one's destiny in life. It is identifying your purpose in life and pursuing it. It is a calling; it is something you have wanted to achieve your whole life. Coelho suggests a Personal Legend as “what you have always wanted to accomplish”. I believe that Personal Legends matter a lot to us in life without us even realizing it. They provide us with a purpose or a reason to be who we are. They are important because they give us the motivation, determination, and resilience that we need to be the best person we can be. The hero’s journey helps us achieve our personal legend by giving us a pathway to success if we are willing to pursue it. While Personal Legends vary from person to person, a Personal Legend is fulfilled by embarking on an enlightening journey and realizing the total importance of one's own significance.
It begins with the routine and drab of your ordinary world. It is only when we understand we need to leave our ordinary world that we truly rise by becoming resilient. Coelho portrays this with Santiago and his repetitive life within the hills of Andalusia.” They are so used to me they know my schedule.” indicating that he needs to get out of the rut that is his tedious and dreary life because even his sheep know his schedule. He needs to get out of his ordinary world. We might need a dream to break free from the constraints of our regular world and Coelho illuminates this when he tells us that Santiago has the same recurring dream, almost indicating where his Personal Legend lies but feels like something is missing. The thing that is missing is a call, a call for us to leave the world we have always known and take a step into the unknown. Unfortunately, more often than not we refuse this call. Why? Because we are afraid. We are afraid of what is out there. This is elucidated by Coelho when Santiago remembers his sheep when he is on the brink of buying a ticket to go to Africa and feels as if he needs to stay with them. We have reluctance we don’t want to go out of our comfort zone. This is the point when we need to understand our Personal Legend and learn resilience to take the next step and cross the threshold.
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The next stage of trying to attain our Personal Legend is when we meet our mentor. Our mentor could come in the form of anyone. My mentors are my father and mother. Ever since I could walk and talk my parents were guiding me in the right direction. They have always been there for me. Coelho expresses Santiago’s mentors as the old King and the Alchemist. Santiago gives up his old life and dives into the unfamiliar by selling his sheep and traveling to Africa on persuasion from the old King. This is certainly crossing the threshold and leaving your other world in the dust. The Alchemist gives some words of wisdom to Santiago when all is lost and it changes his viewpoint and determination to reach his Personal Legend. “Because wherever your heart is, that is where you’ll find your treasure.”- The Alchemist. Then comes the time when you need to prepare for your final challenge. This is the final obstacle standing in the way of you and achieving your Personal Legend. The last barrier between you and the thing that you’ve always wanted.
Then the time comes when you take on that encounter. You charge through with the resilience, determination, and newfound strength you have acquired on the way and achieve your goal. You’ve given time, and effort and have made many sacrifices, but you have done it. What you dreamed of as a child, your wildest dreams, your ultimate potential. Along the way, you have grown stronger, gained more wisdom, and grown as an individual. We have expanded our horizons and unlocked things we didn’t realize we had in us. We were triggered by the call and that motivated us to unlock our biggest potential, our Personal Legend. “It’s true; life really is generous to those who pursue their Personal Legend”. -Santiago. Life is given to those who are willing to go that extra mile and leave their first world and move on to an enlightened world. Only then are you worthy of achieving your Personal Legend?
After considering all this, I believe that Personal Legends are a significant thing in our otherwise non-exciting life. To live life to its fullest it is essential we do what we are fated to do, and complete our Personal Legend. We don’t know who we really are until we accomplish what we are destined to do. Our Personal Legends make us acquire important life traits like determination, and resilience and also teach us how to be rewarded. Personal Legends determine who we were, who we are, and who we will be. I wonder, have you found your Personal Legend yet?
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