30 Day Book Challenge – Day 17
This is an impossible question to answer. I honestly have no idea. But after running a quick eye over my bookshelves I can tell you the shortest book I’ve read in recent years.
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, is one of those inspiring books that I don’t come across very often. The language is straightforward and the characters simple, but the message is profound. As it’s said in the book:
“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”
It’s a book that encourages you to follow your dreams and persevere through the challenges life throws at you. For in the end, it is these challenges that reveal themselves to be the building blocks to help you reach your destiny and fulfilment in life.
For a number of years now I have lived by the mantra:
‘The pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty’.
I believe that even in the worst of times, you can take something away from it that will benefit you in the future. Whether it be strength, humility, knowledge…there’s always something to be learned. In The Alchemist, at the beginning of the book the protagonist Santiago sets out on a journey, but is soon robbed of all the money he has saved to reach his destination. It seems terrible at the time, but we soon realise that had this not happened, he would not have met the next person on his journey, and the next. His experiences would have been much different and he wouldn’t have learned what he needed to learn in order to seek out his treasure and reach his destiny.
There’s a reason this book is an international bestseller that’s been translated into 67 languages worldwide. A short, but thoroughly uplifting read.
~storytelling nomad~
storytelling nomad 