{"id":1310,"date":"2014-11-09T09:00:10","date_gmt":"2014-11-09T14:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/safaraf.com\/?p=1310"},"modified":"2014-11-06T15:56:52","modified_gmt":"2014-11-06T20:56:52","slug":"book-review-the-alchemist-by-paulo-coelho","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/safaraf.com\/?p=1310","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I just completed reading “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho.\u00a0 This book has found its way to me or I to it, of which I am not sure which is true but for which I am grateful.\u00a0 I believe that we are consistently given encouragement in our lives and many times it is in ways least expected.\u00a0 This book has done so for me and I due hope you will find my reflections worthy of your exploration.\u00a0 It is an affirmation of the healthy mind and spirit.<\/p>\n

I will not attend to this beautiful book in detail\u00a0but rather reflect on one idea which I have taken away from it and found of relevant to my life\u00a0now.\u00a0 I am sure that another time in my life I will return to this book and new insights reveal themselves.\u00a0 There are so many beautiful meditations contained in the passages of the story.\u00a0 In short summary the book centers on a young man “the boy”\u00a0who travels to find a treasure.\u00a0 In the midst of his journey he encounters\u00a0 “the Alchemist” who together with other central figures\u00a0share their wisdom and insights into what they know about people and life from their experiences.\u00a0 Each step along the way reveals to him a new understanding about himself and the true purpose of life; his “personal legend.”<\/p>\n

A beautiful passage that spoke to me has offered a meditation I have found particularly helpful.\u00a0 Paulo Coelho\u00a0describes how the\u00a0main character\u00a0“the boy” reflects\u00a0as he comes to understand the importance of paying attention to his heart,\u00a0his inner self.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0To paraphrase it he says he asked his heart\u00a0“…from then on, please never stop speaking to him.\u00a0 He asked that when he wandered far from his dreams, his heart press him and sound the alarm.\u00a0 The boy swore that every time\u00a0 he heard the alarm, he would\u00a0heed its message.”\u00a0 What I take from this is the importance of honoring our true inner spirit.\u00a0 When we find ourselves diverging whether it be from fear, insecurity or feelings of abandonment we can return to our heart to find our way back on our path.\u00a0 When our bodies give us\u00a0signals, we can listen.<\/p>\n

Our bodies speak of\u00a0the\u00a0voice of our hearts.\u00a0\u00a0We are\u00a0constantly receiving\u00a0signals through our physical bodies\u00a0about our wellness and these are often alerts to what we need to take into consideration about larger\u00a0situation in our life.\u00a0 When we listen to our inner self and take it upon ourselves to\u00a0make healthy choices\u00a0we are announcing that we are in communion with our inner spirit; body and mind aligned.\u00a0 We are present to what IS and we are focused on using our energy in a defragmented way\u00a0to finding our way forward.\u00a0Paying attention to our hearts and respecting our bodies are integrally connected.\u00a0 We do ourselves much good when we allow this to be a part of our daily life.<\/p>\n

Recently, in the midst of the changes of my own life, I have found that this passage has given me the strength of character to feel reassured in my pathway.\u00a0 I have used it in simple ways.\u00a0 When my body has needed to rest, I have listened and done so.\u00a0 When\u00a0I have stopped and looked\u00a0around myself\u00a0to where I am<\/p>\n

What\u00a0can I take from my\u00a0daily life that may give me the reassurance\u00a0of what is working in our life\u00a0is for my best self?\u00a0 When I have accepted or been denied an invitation to what I have wanted, I have sought my heart for the answers to why and found myself learning more about myself and the purpose for which these events have taken place.\u00a0 They are affirmation\u00a0that my heart is a guide by which if I follow will give me the best opportunity to live my life with my mind, body and spirit connected.<\/p>\n

Here are a few questions you may want to ask yourself in reflection:<\/p>\n

What am I getting back from the energy I am spending each day?<\/p>\n

Is it possible that there are aspects to my life that would be different if I listened to my inner self?<\/p>\n

I hope you find your way to enjoying this book.\u00a0 May the insights you find\u00a0in the passages guide a way to further supporting yourself in wellness.<\/p>\n

In health,<\/p>\n

Safara<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I just completed reading “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho.\u00a0 This book has found its way to me or I to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1310"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1310"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1315,"href":"http:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1310\/revisions\/1315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}