Friday, April 16, 2010

The Alchemist

I've been super busy with moving and trying to get everything settled... Yesterday as of 7:00 pm I had read 33 pages of the Alchemist. But as of 10:15 pm I had finished it! I didn't have much going on, so I just sat down and read practically the whole book while Rog studied and then took his final.

The verdict: I loved it! It was a simple, yet thought-provoking read. I loved how it was about having and achieving dreams. I also loved how it talked about figuring out what you want to do and then being happy with that. Like how the candy seller was just happy to sell candy because that's what he wanted to do.

My favorite quote from the book was:
"The fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself."

It made me think about how we can spend all our time worrying that something will go wrong, but worrying only causes us to suffer. Obviously if something goes wrong, we will suffer and that is unavoidable, but the suffering we cause ourselves by worrying is avoidable. Clearly this is easier said than done and I'm definitely the worst offender out there. But reading this made me want to try to stop.

If you haven't read this book, I would definitely recommend it.

6 comments:

Mom Lori said...

Wow, I'm glad you read that book - I'm cheering for you that you can apply what you learned

Kim said...

That really sounds like a book I should read too. Thanks for the recommendation!

Roger said...

I love this book and Chief really is the worst worrier out there. I will try to help her achieve this goal of not worrying so much.

Rachel said...

I'm glad you liked it! We missed you at book club.

tracy said...

Right after you read "House Rules", "Autobiography of an Execution" and "Rooftops of Tehran"...

tracy said...

....i'm the w o r s t worrier out there. Ask anyone. Well, the f e w people who know me...