In 1986, I went for the first and only time on the pilgrimage known as the Way to Santiago, an experience I described in my first book. We had just finished walking up a small hill, a village appeared on the horizon, and it was then that my guide, whom I shall call Petrus (although that was not his name), said to me:
- We must never stop dreaming. Dreams provide nourishment for the soul, just as a meal does for the body. Many times in our lives we see our dreams shattered and our desires frustrated, but we have to continue dreaming. If we don’t, our soul dies
‘The Good Fight is the one we Fight because our heart asks it of us.The Good Fight is the one that’s fought in the name of our dreams. When we are young our dreams first explode inside us with all of their force, we are very courageous, but we haven’t yet learned how to Fight. With great effort, we learn how to Fight, but by then we no longer have the courage to go into combat. So we turn against ourselves and do battle within. We become our own worst enemy. We say that our dreams were childish, or too difficult to realize, or the result or our not having known enough about life. We kill our dreams because we are afraid to Fight the Good Fight.
“The first symptom of the process of killing our dreams is lack of time. The busiest people I have known in my life always have time enough to do everything. Those who do nothing are always tired and pay no attention to the little amount of work they are required to do. They complain constantly that the day is too short. The Truth is, they are afraid to Fight the Good Fight
“The second symptom of the death of our dreams lies in our certainties. Because we don’t want to see life as a grand adventure, we begin to think of ourselves as wise and fair and correct in asking so little of life. We look beyond the walls of our day-to-day existence, and we hear the sound of lances breaking, we smell the dust and the sweat, and we see the great defeats and the fire in the eyes of the warriors. But we never see the delight, the immense delight in the hearts of those engaged in the battle. For them, neither victory nor defeat is important; what’s important is only that they are Fighting the Good Fight.
“And, finally, the third symptom of the passing of our dreams is peace. Life becomes a Sunday afternoon; we ask for nothing grand, and we cease to demand anything more than we are willing to give. In that state we think of ourselves as being mature; we put aside the fantasies of our youth, and we seek personal and professional achievement. We are surprised when people our age say that they still want this or that out of life. But really, deep in our hearts, we know that what has happened is that we have renounced the battle for our dreams-we have refused to Fight the Good Fight.
“When we renounce our dreams and find peace, we go through a period of tranquility. But the dead dreams begin to rot within us and to infect our entire being. We become cruel to those around us, and then we begin to direct this cruelty against ourselves.
“What we sought to avoid in combat-disappointment and defeat-came upon us because of our cowardice. And one day, the dead, spoiled dreams make it difficult to breath, and we actually seek death. It’s death that frees us from out certainties, from our work, and from that terrible peace of Sunday afternoons.”
in “The Pilgrimage”(1987)
{ 155 comments… read them below or add one }
← Previous Comments
Next Comments →
I am really afraid from living my life day by day while kicking out of it my dreams and my heart callings. I’d rather die than have a long life to waste on living because I have to.
Since when I was little I used to wander, why people struggle so much on doing all these things for if they don’t get joy from it?
Will I be that way when I’ll grow up? Only the idea of that has terrified me, but I hope I won’t be strong enough as to bear that kind of killing monotony, living just because I have a life ahead to live.
There is one language I am trying to learn now and teach it to others. Heart’s language.
PS: Speaking about Heart, does any of you know where is Heart ? I am starting to miss her comments here in the blog. I see that there are some wol who maybe have took some vacations. Hope they all are fine and happy!
Love
Olta
Olta Ana , why people struggle so much on doing things for they don’t get joy from it .I don’t know either .but maybe they have got joy from it but they themselves didn’t sense or you didn’t sense .in fact ,I always am doudting at myself ,I didn’t like my job at all ,how about change one ?then I asked myself :what job i want to get ?no ,it can’t be too busy I can’t get time to read book or think of myself ,I don’t like the people show bad with each other because of competing ……then finally I found :I didn’t like my job but I like its easy and safe and i can do my interested things in my so -much-leisure time and I can _____as you say___have plent of time to study the heart language !as a matter of fact I don’t know how many people can really earn a life with their interesting .so sometimes people have to make a balance on the life and interested things .Ha ,I don’t know if I am speaking for my coward or not !sometimes feel very confused because there are some job in the mind what is not really wanting to do but still want to have a experience, but the risk will be losing the now-job and put the risk of my familly .the familly is a great deal of important to me .I remembered you told the story of your father and mother .maybe sometimes the interesting can only occupy your leisure time ,if take it as a job …..the losing is too much to offer .that’s many people who have to take the job what they have to .maybe the meaning behind the job what is their true wanting !who knows ?
maybe each one living in this world who all have one dream they can’t get or have no ability .
Maybe the most important thing to people is to know their real dream .sometime the dream itself is a dream!
but at least we can ask ourselves :if tomorrow I die ,will I feel regret at my life or my dream ?!
my answer is :yes ,i have some regret ,but the regret can’t compare my earning !my excuse is :if every one go chasing after their dream ,who raise up the child ?maybe the child is just our dream we didn’t sense out.
Olta Ana ?you made a very nice relationship with your parents ,can you ask them:are you their dream ?
Thank you for let me think of myself so much !
I’ll have to still think of myself and ask myself :what’s my dream?
no matter what the dream is ,feel content at self what’s the most important ,I think .don’t know how you think .and I think feel content at self and love self and spread love around are the essence of the heart language .don’t know it is right or not .
we are all the newcomer to the world no matter how old we are .let’s help with each other .thank you for inspiring me so much one more time .
HI ,dearest Olta Ana ,Heart is in the warrior of light community last day ,found him ,he spoke something very interesting .happy .
everyone sometimes finds themselves complaining about pretty much anything in their lives.One day i was waiting for the tram and i saw a young man waiting as well.Then i noticed that he had no arms and later i noticed he had artificial legs as well and i thought shame on me for feeling miserable for some things in my life when he s missing half of his body yet he s out there in the world fighting.
To follow once s heart is to do the things that truly make you happy to live your life according to your beliefs.
If you want to travel the world because meeting people from other countries will make you hope that maybe one day racism will disappear then go travel the world.
If you dont want to settle down and get married then dont.Dont live your life according to the standards and the things other expect from you because that s the way things should be according to them.dont be afraid to be judged and dont forget to smile.like the quote says”be the change you want to see in the world” up to you comfort level i add to that.and most of all when you dream and love dont ask everyone elses opinion about your dream and your heart s desire because everyone will give you a billion different opinions when they will only be able to see things from a completelly different angle than the real one.only do what you truly want to do because it is your life your heart your dream your truth that only you know and even if you think you will fail still try again and again sometimes in the open sometimes in the shadows until you succeed.
blessed i am for my family the few good friends i have to love support and put up with me and god who gives me health which are truly the most essential ingredients to succeed in following your heart.
blessed i am for the bad luck i had in my life as well cause they eventually made me forgive and realise that one way or the other we all get what we deserve eventually and we create our own misery by deliberatelly harming others.
Olta Ana,
This morning as the alarm went off to the morning news there was a report about an increase in the use of anti-depression drugs. I think, going back to your comment in regards to not enjoying what you are doing and struggling so much in doing things we don’t enjoy is what’s causing this incidence in usage of antidepressants.
But on that same token, there must be a way to find joy in everything we do. During the Christmas season I was fortunate enough to come across a couple who have been on a pilgrimage through the US for the last 4 months, they are two very spiritual people. They both agree that we can find joy in every single thing we do. Otherwise our spirit gets sick and thus our physical body as well. Lately I’ve been thinking about dreams and if I’ve been able to fulfill mine. Now I come to realize that dreaming is a never ending saga, and we must continue dreaming to feed our spiritual self until our path through this dimension is over or our spirit dies, which would be very unfortunate and sad. May you have a dreamful life and continue to awaken your spirit.
Love
Monica
Thanks to all of you!
Love
Olta
thank you sooooooooooo much for this enlightening anatomy:)
Thanks for your inspiration, thanks for your encouragement for me to find my courage again.
You want to be someone…you imagine who…how…the cost of your dreams and the prize of your trying!
No someone else but you try to touch your perfection.
This status make you relaxed-happy…
But always you have to balance your endurance…your courage…
The cost and the prize…Maybe this is wrong…you know that but you feel alone in a difficult battle of your dreams!
Thanks Paulo
When I was a kid, I wanted to be mature. And then, my appa would say.
” Maturity for a fruit is the state just before getting rotten.
Maturity for human beings is when they lose their hope to live, and become content with the little what they achieved.
Always be a kid, and do things you would do when you were a kid. Be impulsive, be spontaneous. Life is way better that way. ”
Today when I read this post, I was thinking of my appa.
Thank you for the great post!
Thank you for this beautiful piece of hope and encouragement. Many of my dreams died with some of the unexpected tragedies that came upon my life in the last couple of years.
“We become cruel to those around us, and then we begin to direct this cruelty against ourselves.” This quote has so much piercing truth for me that I was unable to recognize before. I know that I must work to change and ask those around me for forgiveness.
I am prayerful and confident that 2010 with be the year that my heart will find the courage to dream again!
Thank you again for sharing this!
Hi Paulo,
I have to thank you soooo much for writing “The Good Fight” !
You know I just got back from work and now just read the passage. Before all these, I was thinking for an whole hour on the bus on my way home… what I am doing here in the world.
Well I have many dreams.. and I have been trying to realize them… but at the same time I’m always veryyyy afraid of not being able to realize them or I won’t have enough time to realize them. So, because I want my dream to be realized very badly so I step 2 steps forward then I step 2.5 step backward when I’m being too afraid of facing the possibility that my dream would be failed. So, my dreams can hardly ever come true.
Everyday I’m figuring out how and thinking every possible ways
to make my dreams come true then got frustrated when another part of myself to fail those ways. When I think to the point that the dreams or ways to the dreams being denied, it feels sooo hard to breathe to live… life becomes so much meaningless… and it makes me do not want to live..
I love your passage really.. it says my mind.. I know how it feels when one forces oneself to live with dream.. and how frustrated it is when you want to realize the dream soooo bad but you never let yourself or fight for yourself to make it come true…
Now I just want to know how to prevent myself from being afraid of losing or facing the failure of my dreams..
I felt sooo sad and frustrated on my way home and was seeking for positive energy in any ways. And, I never thought of reading this passage when I’m home and that makes me feel so much better! Thanks again, Paulo !
P.s. I love your book “The Alchemist” soo much ! Especially the sentence “When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream.”
Love,
Daisy
Hong Kong
Viva our Dreams! Viva to you Paulo for encouraging us in the fight!
It’s not an easy path to follow, but the depth of quality of our lives makes it worth it. What’s the point of living unless it’s an adventure – full of challenges, and sweet victories!
Love to all warriors
Karin
Dear Paulo,
my soul died, but I’m hoping for resurrection.
love
Maryon
x
Dear Maryon,
As long as you can keep his memory in your heart he will never die. As long as you can keen him in your dreams he will continue dreaming with you. May you find comfort in God as you walk thorugh this difficult path.
Love
Monica
Thank you so much Paulo,
It has been a while since I have remembered my dreams. So far I have lived a life with no courage. I have lied to myself and ultimately have rubbed myself and my family of my true self.
I pray to God and heavens to give me enough courage to remember those dreams and follow them wherever they may lead me.
Beautiful thoughts Paulo!
I have always bin a fan of yours, and you continue to inspire me everyday!
The good fight. I need to get to Austria in March. It will be a step on the way to fulfilling one of my dreams. I have no money saved, I have some debts to pay, I am committed in numerous other ways financially. On top, I am working as a freelancer, so if I don’t work, I don’t get paid. No sick leave, no holiday pay, no public holidays.
Every day it would be easy to say, “there’s no time”, or “it’s too hard”, or “I’m not prepared for this”, or “there’s always next year, maybe I’ll get invited again”, or “I’m committed elsewhere, I shouldn’t go”, or “its too much of a luxury, all that money for one week away”, or “I’m satisfied knowing that I had the opportunity to go, fulfillment isn’t important”. So many excuses I offered myself every day.
But I have been blessed all my life with people who want to help me, in all manner of small and not so small ways. Today I began looking for a second job to work weekends, or every second weekend because my children stay with me once a fortnight. Trying to make the sums add up, I approached my manager at work who has become a friend, and discussed my dilemma. Her immediate response was to suggest working overtime instead getting a second job, with a promise to make the required workload appear. She then organised for me to go onto a fixed contract instead of freelance rates, so now I get annual leave, sick pay and public holiday pay, which means I don’t have to save the additional money I would otherwise have lost by not working for a week while I’m in Austria. She told the office manager that even though I was getting leave and entitlements now, my hourly rate should not drop (in reality it did, but only $2). All this happened in one day, today. All it took from me was the mental decision last night that, “Yes, I want this. I’ll fight and work for it”, even when working one weekend in every two was never going to be enough to get me the money I need in time, I was prepared to do it as a small step in the right direction. Belief was all it took to turn hope and determination into something fruitful. I still have to do the work and save the money, but this is somehow far less daunting than making the decision that I was truly going to make it happen.
Oh, and my managers smiling words tonight as I thanked her: “You’d kick yourself if you didn’t go”.
God bless.
I admire your courage .Daniel.if the dream is in our capacity and it’s our real dream ,we’d have your courage .I admire you . I saw many people around me boasting of their words ,as the chance came ,they lost their dare and they gave out so many excuses to themselves to others.I admire the people who dare dream dare doing.great luck every day !Chance won’t wait .
God bless you, dear poet Daniel! Remember: When you want something the Universe conspires to .. make it come true!
And if there is a WILL there is a WAY.
After all you will meet the DREAM MASTER, the Magus, our Paulo Coelho!
LOVE,
Thelma xxx
Thank you,
I was trying to kill my dreams,but now I don’t let them to die.
I don’t know why but whenever I became tired,God has shown me sth to tell me fight,like this one.
i wanna see myself as astronaut because i love space too much.currently m doing master degree in business.i dont know why?
Empowering! At least now, Now I’ll dare myself to fail until I succeed.. Thanks!
yes, it is true indeed.
I have this friend, as I called him “partner in crime”. We use to dare to dream since our childhood, even it was the weirdest dream ever. And we still do that up until now. Gladly.
We have this believe, that every person in this world is a dream fighter. so, there’s just two option left, make it true, or may die trying.
:)
you re so amazing at all times…
thanks to my friend, i came to read this!!~
im also a person who was touched by your works
especially the book, ALCHEMIST.
your works always inspire me!!~
thank you!~!
Thank you, Paulo for sharing this story.
I recognized myself in all three symptoms.
I don’t want to let my dream die. It’s not big, but to me it’s very important; it is the difference between life and death. (I wish to live in Switzerland again.)
I am moved to extrapolate on Paulos beautiful diagnosis of our unwillingness, fear or inertia towards fighting the “Good Fight”.
He cites a lack of time as the first of the symptoms. In my moments of stillness I can’t help but be mesmerized by the activity of the people around me. Busy bees moving here there and everywhere, their days filled with things which MUST be done or….what?
Grasping hold of activities and tasks which they feel define them. They hypnotise themselves into thinking that by doing or worrying about these tasks they would matter. I too have often found myself lost in this hive of activity. I now make a particular effort to catch myself in those moments and this is exactly what I wish for those around me.
I wish them a moment of stillness in which they would peel away at the layers of importance they give to the things in their lives. I have no doubt that given this opportunity they would gain a clarity which, if even for a moment, would allow them a glimpse of the beauty and potential which lies within them if only it was given as much of a chance of life as that which they now hold so dear.
He lists our desire for certainty as the second symptom. The desire for certainty can only abide in one who realises it is possible. The idea of certainty lives because we KNOW of the existence of omnipotence.
We are great creators. It is our heritage and our purpose. It is our right to create as omnipotent beings yet through fear we stop short of this birth right. Through fear we manage only to display great confidence in creating mediocre lives which we need to anaesthetise ourselves to.
It is our paralysis in laying claim to our ability and right to create lives of limitless possibilities which forces us to construct lives more akin to those which wall us off from the battlefield where the good fight is fought.
Peace is the third symptom. Oh what an upside down world it is in which we live where the peace we yearn for is nothing more than a mirage while the battle we run from brings with it a serenity we could never dare dream exists.
True peace can only be gained by removing our armour and rushing bravely into the thick of the “good fight”. To hold back from the fight is to forever be a sentry, standing guard at the periphery of your life never fully experiencing the magnificence of who you truly are.
Hi Leonie,
I think one of the greatest bonuses of reading P.Coelho’s blogs, notes etc on the net is finding comments from people like you that come out with such beautiful and inspiring writing too! Thks for writing…I loved reading!
Have a lovely day,
Stellah
it was more than amazing, about the dream and last one about the peace. while nowadays all of us just searching for some peace in our life. it was amazing and comes at the right time. thank you so much :)
Thank you Paulo and Donatella!
Thank you for giving clarity to the “pull” within me which has drawn me to investigate it and to be moved by it. Thank you for re-affirming that it is a good fight!
Thank you Paulo for describing the most delicious part of the good fight – “But we never see the delight, the immense delight in the hearts of those engaged in the battle. For them, neither victory nor defeat is important; what’s important is only that they are Fighting the Good Fight. ” It is this which swells my heart to the point of bursting, it is the most sensually and spiritually erotic part of being truly alive and in those moments when this feeling washes over me I truly feel one with the world, seen and unseen.
Much love
Leoniex
Dreams are the heart of life.. they help us to live, to wake up in the morning, to go thru the hard times, to think there is always something good awaiting us..
We were born with a dream, and I believe, that’s God’s will. We were given a gift and it’s our duty to bring it to life, to share it with the world and people around us. In the end, we are all part of a magical chain, invisible, where we are all connected and influenced by each others energy.
Dreams cannot die or disappear.. how can they when they are in our blood?
Sometimes we give up, sometimes we forget, sometimes we become bitter because the road to achieve them is full of obstacles..
BUT the purity of the dream give us the ability to focus and never lose sight of it.
Because of you Paulo, I’ve discovered a new World.
You speak a universal language of love and hope.
Thank you for being you and for helping us to find ourselves.
XOXOXOX
Donatella
Donatella,
Remember when we spent the night together with all that vodka? Remember what happened and how it rained in the morning? How no friends wanted to pick us up and how we finally drove home together? How everyone cleared the road in the early morning? Baby I miss your skin. Any time you want to drive my bike it will be yours ;)
Ilkka & kalashnikov
russia
PS. Kew says Mona had an accident with the blue one. Is that correct? You know the white one was mine anyway. But I did like the blue one more – easier to turn..
i loved your book, the Pilgrimage. :)
Thank you for reminding me. I had not realised that I saw dreams as childish, and that I had turned away from them. Love Anna.
Thank you for this inspiration, so needed in these horrible times. It is true people should never stop dreaming, hoping, wishing and waiting for their dreams to come true. Without dreams we are like children without laughter.
our dreams died soo long ago
but thanks God we r still breathing or at least we think we r
Dear Paulo,
I have learned to fight the Big Fight after my husband died. I was leading a very comfortable life letting my husband making all the important decisions. I always thought that me and my husband would grow old together and that I wouldn’t have the need to dream any more.
After the initial shock of his unexpected loss, I realized that I wanted to live more then ever. I wanted to dream again and I wanted to feel that wonderful thrill that life can transmit to us and which I had learned to ignore. A peaceful Sunday afternoon is now too boring for me. My life is so full of activities and fun. And all this thanks to the Big Fight and to the constant dreams that I dare to dream.
Thanks Paulo for your inspirational writings. You are great and may God keep you in good health always.
Marie-Louise xxx
So true… it’s terrible when we give up…
Paulo,
First, let me say that i always enjoy reading your posts. But, I also must say that sometimes i disagree with You. Maybe i am wrong, but something in me tells me to comment on this post. I must answer to all three symptoms
1. Lack of time. My dear You are maybe older than me, but regrettably today in order to fight the good fight, the meaning of i don’t have time, comes to all of us with the full meaning of the saying. And i disagree, that the people who say i don’t have time, are the lazy one and the one who has left from The good fight.
2.Whit the second “symptom” I fully agree. But, than I must return to the first point in this comment of mine.
3.And the, third, I must say I totally disagree with You. What is the point of the Good battle, to fight forever. No, my friend. We all must find our peace one day. The good battle is fought to fulfill our dreams. And what than, what when we fulfill our dream. Maybe one’s dream is to reach to the perfect spot on some mountain hill, and live there till the end of time. Is he a loser, is he a coward. No my friend, he/she is a fulfilled person in his/her way of seeing the things. He/she has reached the Nirvana. And no one, I mean no one has the right to say otherwise, not even god.
Zoran,
Let me start by saying that Paulo is one of my favorite authors; and in this work, he paints a beautiful picture of the global essence of dreams. I do however, appreciate the points that you have raised and applaud you for connecting Paulo’s “global essence” of dreams to our reality, ability to remain centered and drive to peace, harmony and the fulfillment of those dreams. Though they are in constant quest, dreams are surely attainable.
wow i just realised that not only i stoped dreamin, but i forgot how we do it…. :-(
tu ecris l’impossible..
I’ve learnd, that dreams are something what is given from God. He gives them into your mind to guide you. So be strong to follow your dreams….
it’s bad how we justify the fact that we’re killing our dreams by the greatest meanings in life..peace..certainity , conviction and satisfaction of what we actually have…which are all free from our persuading to our selves that we have reached the top of the human feelings…
Your notes and your books are always a big teacher of my whole life , I adore you .
It is a blessing to read your wise words on Sundays also Paulo, many thanks and connect with fellow bloggers-Happy Sunday : ) love breda
Blessing It Forward
The New Year is a commonly shared time to reflect on what the past year has brought, release old ways of being, and dream into your hopes for the coming year.
You can choose an Angel Card to help bring your heart’s aspirations and wishes for 2010 into actuality.
A wonderful way to work with your new Angel is to bless it forward. This short powerful practice opens the way for your Angel’s presence to permeate each day throughout the year.
Begin by closing your eyes. Draw your attention inward and settle into your core of quiet. Take a little time to connect with your Angel. Welcome it by name and breathe its special quality into your heart-body-mind. Establish a between space where you and your Angel can dialogue, build resonance, and update your mutual understanding.
Envision a time-line stretching from your now into your future and invite your Angel to stream forward and bless your day. Hold this focus steady. Imagine the Angel, like a subtle whisper, weaving energetically throughout your entire day in infinitely creative ways. Simply let go, accept and allow your Angel’s loving presence. Feel it fully. Close by honoring with gratitude the amazing field of grace and nurturance in which you are living.
Trust that your Angel’s blessing is ongoing. As you move through your day pause from time to time, take a few conscious breaths, pay attention and choose loving presence. Relax into the knowing that the Angel is present with you in this moment. Feel bathed in support. Link up with thanks – really feel your gratitude
http://www.innerlinks.com – they are experts at all things angelic which can help us fulfil our dreams..its something I need to do more of anyhow !!! the Angel for this month is ‘Play’(u need to purchase a pkt of Angelcards by Kathy Tyler and Joy Drake,look up the website.
Love Breda
Everything you write is amazing Paulo!!
Thank you for all your books!
I live for my Dreams, and my dreams are living breathing entities, they feed me, encourage me, burn inside of me, push me, propel me. It’s hard to remember a period of time in my life where I am not following my dreams. Sure there are times when I feel down or depressed and dreaming comes to a stand still, and true what you say about certainties and especially that we die if we stop dreaming!!
Can’t imagine a life without dreams and miracles!
Wishing everyone a dreamy 2010!
Thank you Paulo!
Kisses.
Fight for your Dreams
I believe that our dreams give us strength the most difficult times. It is a place we travel within our mind where we feel secure, where we feel warmth, happy, complete. I cannot accept that there are people without dreams. All human beings no matter the life they live or the age they have, have a dream. Dreams do not rot, dreams do not die, dreams are the most pour thoughts of a human being.
Dreams are almost impossible to get. This is the reason that there called dreams. When you see a dream come true sometimes you cannot hold your tears. If there is someone that helped you to make it happen you see him as a god.
The most pure and hard to become real are the dreams of the people that lives are not such pleasant as ours. They dream a piece of bread. They dream a warm bed or a place to sleep at night. They dream of a child, husband or a friend. They dream of love, understanding. They dream of Peace around them or an answer to reason they have to suffer so much. They dream to see again their loved ones that are far away for so long or gone forever. They dream of a better word. Of a better day.
How can these dreams rot ? It is impossible.
With Love
Dear paulo,
your writings are like an other world for me, and especially at this time when my world has ended and when i’ve totally forgotten this word ‘dream’. but everyday at the end of the day i read your writings and they always give me a new ray of hope you are like an angel for me in this time. I thank to my ALLAH for providing you to me in this worst time. Indeed when God takes something away he open up thousand ways for u……paulo i have my own world where only me,my dreams and your writings exist.
May God give you more courage and peace
I do blv wot u said Angabeen.M nobody to say but dont say dat ur world has ended.D world is round .. dats an OMEN dat world can nvr end.
Hope Allah give u courage n peace :>
N start creating ur world wid sum gud things .. blv me it will nvr end.
Regards,
Nums.
You know I have been meditating upon two thoughts that relate to this. Currently, I am in a drought. I have literally nothing but a roof over my head, but dreams are still growing and are being planted in my heart–at first I thought God was wasting his time by planting and trying to nourish in such an arid climate, but then I realized, in a drought, those roots are growing deeper and deepr in my soul, trying to tap into the source. The roots that survive will ulitamately flourish when the rains come and my dreams finally realize themselves. What is dying in my heart are all of those negative messages and thoughts (or in farming terms the blight and viruses that will ravish the soil), not my dreams.
The second thought that I have been medidating upon is the idea of “normal”: “Normal”, in the world I grew up in, is working the 9-5, give only so much to your community but not too much otherwise you will be considered “political”, getting the husband/wife and the house and having the 2.5 children. So many times I have tried to fit in with this profile and it always blew up in my face–until I realized one day after seeing “All About Steve”, the movie is quirky but there is an awesome message in it. Sandra Bullock’s character wanted this guy named Steve because she knew she was not like the other girls…she finds herself in a hole and tells a deaf child, who is also stuck down there that this guy Steve was her “ticket to normal.” The deaf child signed, “But why would you want to be normal?” I then realized at that point that I don’t want to be normal, because I am a unique being.
Following the heart requires us to possess a “warrior’s” courage. We have to fight just as hard as anyone to believe in those dreams, believe in ourselves, and be okay with ourselves (which I think is the greatest struggle of them all because the unique ones are so hard to find and come by) and the life we choose. I have finally chosen my next path and it will take a lot of courage to believe that I will be able to travel this with the knowledge I have, and be able to learn at the same time, and to be okay with myself. Deciding to go back into performing, you can easily be treated like a novelty, in my experiences boyfriends can be very hostile, and to believe that people will accept you for who you are and not for what you do is extremely hard.
I come from a family who have destroyed their dreams and I am sort of the final hold out for preserving my own dreams. It is so difficult, but I choose to go into this with a warrior’s courage and fight the good fight. I just hope this drought ends soon, because my soul is ssssoooo thirsty and I can’t move forward with anything tangible until I have the means. I am hoping God comes through soon.
Paulo. Thank you for sharing this. I have almost given up on my dreams. So much has brought me to this point. Perhaps I will reconsider.
P.
beautiful……
challenges of ourselves never can stop if we flow with energies of Love and surrender to the Divine while lotus of the heart opens and reveals in each petal a new world…the endlessness of ourselves;) we explore but if only this all connected to the beautiful reality of our mother Nature Earth and the Sun and the Moon and all good beings that share this time and space with us….that must be a beauty of life.
at least i dont know better one..maybe u do, who have fame, name and money, i dont have it but i feel this is what at least for me counts the best;) pls u tell Maestro if u have something more found in those things apart little more peace(in money)and little more restlessness(in fame and name)…
im addressing this external values cos they restrict so much as they give so much on another plain. if we wud be equal u wud Maesto be able to communicate more personally..but obviously ur very busy;) which is nice that u take time and still share with us a lot. Thank You.
its wonderful to have u around and learn from u! keep enlighting us with ur realizations!
miss ur live chats!
This one is true for at least for me. Since 2 months ago there seems to be no time for myself , rarely go out and fells like staying at home as long as I can.
And things that are usually fun and thrill me seems lost their meaning.
Dear Paulo!
Sorry, but didn’t you say here in the blog you have been a guide to a person on the way to Santiago in 1989? That means you went there at least twice, or maybe I’m mixing up things.
And as for The Good Fight and The Pilgrimage I can never get enouhg of them.
Love you to bits.
Adriana
Hi Adriana
Paulo says:and it was then that my guide, whom I shall call Petrus (although that was not his name), said to me.Which means that Paulo had a guide with him whom he called Petrus and not that Paulo was the guide.
Anyway for me is the first time that i read this and its so true and inspiring.
Thank you Paulo
dear sanaz,
until very recently i thought that i didn’t have a dream either- i couldn’t name something specific anyway, like other people seemed to do. but then i realized that the vision i would often times see in my head was my dream, only it was too huge (i told myself) to be a “possible” dream.
i think sometimes we become so comfortable with our easily-attained lives that we loose sight of the real person we have the potential to become. but i think that person is in there anyway, giving us clues, waiting for us to notice… and eventually, if you’re paying attention, you’ll remember your dream.
i personally began to piece together my true dreams (i’ve discovered i have many of them!) through art. i never thought myself an artist, but i began doing collages- just picking random images, from magazines or fliers or wherever, that spoke to me, even though often times i didn’t know why. as i pieced the images together i was amazed to find what the images were telling me- they were reminding me of dreams i had as a child but were totally forgotten for so many reasons.
and also, to dreamgirl,
people who squash our dreams are people who have given up on their own. it’s important to take care of your dream- nurture it and share it with those who will nurture it also. don’t put it in the hands of people who would squash it. they may be people you love, and they most likely think they’re doing you a favor by saving you from “silly” thoughts, but they have their own work to do. that is not your concern. your concern is your dream. treat it with love.
just some thoughts from my own experience. hope they help. :)
~sunshine
thank you!
It is a nice text to read when one lives their life fighting for their dreams… every day I fight and fight and fight. At least I know I’m not the only one still holding onto my dreams :)
thank you for this god story
its the first time answer any of your wrote
you made me realized that i must told the women that i love that i love her from the deep of my heart
its difficult but its become a must
thank u Mr paulo coelho for inspiration me
Can’t read this often enough.
With our hands we rape our dreams ,with all power we kill them when they are still like a bud ,only to live our life in very good order like our parents and other people, without problems.
Getting from life the least of its pleasure .
Dreams borns with us,but desicions kill them.
Life is crule ,tough and people are without marcy,they do’nt allow u to dream ,because you will be out of order.
Death is the only reason to remmber them, crazy ah, but it is the truth.death is life with our dreams.
Mr.paulo Iam someone who let her dreams to set free , for no reason but to get exception in ordenary
life.dreams are big problems espacialy when you are still young ,living with your parents.
Be faithful, pure,hard like a stone maybe something will change… Amine
it’s unfortunate that this has also become the norm in society.
Paulo!
The pilgrimage rocks. Sometimes when I feel under the weather I approach to the bookshelf and see this marvelous work with its red cover and all of a sudden magic begins to work. It doesn’t matter how bad I’m feeling it always lifts me up. It is such a powerful, encouraging story of perseverance I find no words to describe the way it makes me feel.
May God bless you for writing it.
lots of love
Adriana
← Previous Comments
Next Comments →
{ 2 trackbacks }