We've been examining some pretty heavy clues over the past few days, so I've decided that today's clue should be a fun one.
Every year my public library has a used book sale, and I always like to go there to stock up on books. Not that I need more books; I already have more books than I have space to keep them. But I adore books. I learned to read when I was four, and every morning before the grownups were out of bed, I would make myself a cup of coffee and read the funnies to the dog. By the time I was five, I had my own library. I remember being very young and packing all my books into a bag to bring with me into the woods at the end of the street. I would spend the entire day there spread out under a tree, reading. Come to think of it, escaping into the woods with my books is still my very favorite idea of getting away from it all.
One year I picked up an intriguing volume by Paulo Coelho, called The Illustrated ALCHEMIST: A Fable About Following Your Dream. It has gorgeous illustrations, reproductions of paintings by someone called simply, Moebius. The book sat on my shelf for years until about two years ago when I felt compelled to take it down and read it. As most fables are, it was an quick and easy read. But the spirit of it captured my imagination.
The Alchemist is the story of Santiago, a young shepherd who tends a flock of sheep in Andalusia, Spain. One night, as he sleeps in the ruins of an old church, he dreams that he finds a treasure buried at the foot of the pyramids in Egypt. He is intrigued by that dream, and before long he decides to sell his sheep to go in search of his treasure.
I was reminded of this book last week when I heard John Maxwell speak at the Team America convention. During his speech, Mr. Maxwell made the comment that there will be a price to pay for following your dream: You will have to pay it sooner than you thought, the price will be higher than you thought, and you'll have to pay it more than once. When I heard that comment, it reminded me of this little book. That was certainly true of Santiago's dream journey. He lost everything he owned three times before he finally found his treasure.
I bring this up as a clue tonight to remind us that this road we have embarked on with this Prosperity Project will take us to places that we cannot even imagine. It will be easier than we thought, but it will also be much harder than we thought. If we stay the course and continue on with our project, I have no doubt that we will all learn to attract abundant wealth into our lives. But I also have no doubt that we will be asked to pay a price for that abundance.
We will be tempted to quit before we've reached the end of our journey. There will come a time when we realize that by becoming the kind of person who attracts abundant wealth, we will have to leave some things behind. We will be asked to decide whether what we are asking is really worth what we are leaving behind. We may decide that the price is too high; we may decide that our current life isn't so bad, after all. We may decide not to continue on our dream journey. And that will be OK. Whatever we decide we want for ourselves, the Universe will totally agree with us. There is no wrong answer.
Santiago loses everything three times before he reaches the end. Each of those times he is tempted to give up. And yet his dream persists. So he tries again. And yet again. And eventually, his sheer tenacity prevails.
So I offer you this book as inspiration on your journey. Find it. Read it. It will inspire you to keep going in some future time when the going is no longer fun. Because even though it may seem impossible, and even though there may be days when it won't seem worth the effort, your dream will be waiting for you to dust yourself off and keep on moving forward.
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