omens from the road
“Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure. You’ve got to find the treasure, so that everything you have learned along the way can make sense.”
- The Alchemist
I made a short trip to East Lansing, Michigan, this week to speak to a couple of financial planning classes at Michigan State, and on the way up, I decided to listen to The Alchemist.
I’m always on the Pursuit of my Personal Legend, aka my authentic life, but I’ve felt more like Santiago lately than I have in a while, so I thought I would revisit my favorite book. I’ve never listened to it, which I found out hits a lot different than reading it, and I hoped that Leo might pick up on bits and pieces of the messages since he was riding up with me.
I’m not sure how much Leo picked up, but listening to the book was not only enlightening for me, but it acted as an omen.
As I listened to the narrator take me along Santiago’s journey, I saw my Self and the last few months playing out alongside Santiago. I received messages that were extremely relevant to where I currently find my Self and I also found some dots in my Pursuit finally connected.
To say that I was on a mental high while listening to the book is an understatement.
As far as the omens in the book, one obvious omen for me came just as one of the characters in the book was telling Santiago to pay attention to the omens–to always follow the omens. Off in the distance over a field, I saw a large bird with what I thought was a white tail–I couldn’t tell for sure, but I pointed out the bird to Leo and told him it might be a bald eagle.
As I turned my head to refocus back on the road before me, I looked up, and a bald eagle was flying right over us…I can’t make this up. It was close enough to us that we could see it’s eyes, and it flew directly over us.
And I know exactly what that omen was telling me.
I mentioned some connected dots, and I’ll share a passage from when Santiago is with the Alchemist; I’m not going to share what it means for me–eventually, I will, but for now, I want to share with you and see if the passage means anything to you.
The following passage occurs in the Oasis after Santiago meets the love of his life, Fatima (bold is my emphasis):
“Well, what if I decide to stay?” (Santiago and the rest is from The Alchemist)
“Let me tell you what will happen. You’ll be the counselor of the oasis. You have enough gold to buy many sheep and many camels. You’ll marry Fatima, and you’ll both be happy for a year. You’ll learn to love the desert, and you’ll get to know every one of the fifty thousand palms. You’ll watch them grow, demonstrating how the world is always changing. And you’ll get better and better at understanding omens, because the desert is the best teacher there is.
Sometime during the second year, you’ll remember about the treasure. The omens will begin insistently to speak of it, and you’ll ignore them. You’ll use your knowledge for the welfare of the oasis and its inhabitants. The tribal chieftains will appreciate what you do. And your camels will bring you wealth and power.
During the third year, the omens will continue to speak of your treasure and your Personal Legend. You’ll walk around, night after night, at the oasis, and Fatima will be unhappy because she’ll feel it was she who interrupted your quest. But you will love her, and she’ll return your love. You’ll remember that she never asked you to stay, because a woman of the desert knows that she must await her man.
So you won’t blame her. But many times you’ll walk the sands of the desert, thinking that maybe you could have left…that you could have trusted more in your love for Fatima. Because what kept you at the oasis was your own fear that you might not come back. At that point, the omens will tell you that your treasure is buried forever.
Then sometime during the fourth year, the omens will abandon you, because you’ve stopped listening to them. The tribal chieftains will see that, and you’ll be dismissed from your position as counselor. But by then, you’ll be a rich merchant, with many camels and a great deal of merchandise. You’ll spend the rest of your days knowing that you didn’t pursue your Personal Legend, and that now it’s too late.
You must understand that love never keeps a man from pursuing his Personal Legend. If he abandons that pursuit, it’s because it wasn’t true love…the love that speaks the Language of the World."
The passage concludes with this from Santiago:
“I’m going with you,” the boy said. And he immediately felt peace in his heart.”
I know the peace Santiago felt–I've recently found it.
See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,
JC
