One of the things I believe to be most important in life is the ability to step out of your comfort zone and see the light, because once we do that, anything is possible. This zone, which looks and feels secure, shouldn’t really be called the comfort zone. It is not a pleasant place to stay. It prevents us from flourishing, and living out our dream. This life lesson is learned very early on in Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. Santiago escapes his comfort zone when he goes against his father’s idea of him becoming a priest and decides that he will do what he loves and travel, ultimately becoming a Sheppard. Doing what you love and pursuing your dream is essential in having a fulfilling, and meaningful life, this idea is very prevalent in The Alchemist because it is presented to us on two ends. We can see Santiago who is able to live out his dream, his personal legend. But then we can see the sad opposite, those who do not pursue their dream out of fear and stay in their comfort zone like the crystal merchant and the affect it has on them. …show more content…
Santiago undergoes many types of fear: a fear of dying in battle, a fear that he will not meet the expectations of the alchemist and a fear he will not ultimately find his treasure. A definitive lesson of fear that Santiago encounters is meeting the crystal merchant. He wants to make the journey to Mecca but the crystal merchant is consumed by his fears. He feels that once he’s made the trip he will have nothing else to live for. “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” (Coelho pg. 141) because of his fears he remains distant from a truly fulfill life. Santiago’ s life lesson to take from this is “The fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself…No heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams.” (Coelho pg. 130) In the end if you can overcome the fear and adversity the treasure seems so much