Personal Legend

"The Soul of the World is nourished by people's happiness.

And also by unhappiness, envy and jealousy.

To realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation.

All things are one. And, when you want something,

all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.

- The Alchemist

The Alchemist made me think about my personal legend. Did I learn early in my life my reason for being and gave up on it so soon? Or am I already living the path that would take me there?
My favorite part of the book was when the boy looked up to the sky and said “You old sorcerer, you knew the whole story. The monk laughed when he saw me come back in tatters. Couldn’t you have saved me from that?” The voice on the wind said “No, you wouldn’t have seen the pyramids. They’re beautiful aren’t they?”
The book tells how we seek our dreams and treasures elsewhere and then find it at our doorstep. But it also spoke of love and how love leads us to strive to become better than we are.
On our way back from American Samoa, Reo (a colleague) and I were walking around Pago Pago airport to kill 4 hours of waiting time and to find gum. We ended up in this little café that sold native war clubs, artifacts, and a few selections of books. As we were scanning through the pages, a man sitting on a wooden stool jumped in our conversation. He recommended this tiny book on the shelf. Before we knew it, he was telling us about his journey through Tahiti, Bora Bora and the other exquisite islands of French Polynesia. Evan, who is a retired pilot, was on a sailing trip. During his voyage he obtained a near death concussion that made him pray for death daily. The one thing that kept him from giving in was his quest for love.

You see, this Irish guy met an amazing surfer who is currently sailing her 40 foot sailboat to surf spots around the world. In order for him to be with her, he has to catch up on his own boat. In fact, he was on his way home that day and had made plans to sail off from Florida. This quest for love would take him almost a year. As he was telling us his story, we were immersed in his passionate pursuit. He talked about how a girl like Liz could possibly chose to love him. I don’t know what kind of guy Evan was before or what he will be in the future, but in those few moments I knew he has found his treasure, his personal legend. And hopefully like the boy in the Alchemist, the universe would conspire to help him achieve it.

I googled up Liz's sailboat and found this...

"The voyage of Swell is a return to the essence of surf exploration. It is the pure enjoyment of elemental pleasures and absolute indulgence in the enlightenment of travel. It is a journey to promote respect for our natural environment, especially the ocean, to appreciate cultural differences, to challenge myself, and to inspire others to face their fears and live out their dreams." - Liz Clark

I know I’m not destined to do great things that would awe or influence the world like discover how to turn lead into gold or transform man into wind. But I hope that the little things that I do, the things that I’m passionate about, would turn into something great, someday.