"When you want something, all the universe conspires to help you achieve it," the old king had said. ~The Alchemist

I tried to go to sleep but I had too much on my mind. I'm reading "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho and I'm already halfway through it after 2 days of reading. It was recommended to me by a good friend by the name of Edwin (Garcia) :)

Just to give you some background, I bought the book at Borders and it was in the Metaphysics aisle. "The metaphysician ... attempts to clarify the notions by which people understand the world, including existence, objecthood, property, space, time, causality, and possibility."

So essentially someone who thinks way too much about everything! Welcome to my world. I was a philosophy minor (attempted double major however I had no time to read all of those philosophers) so I've always enjoyed thinking about how everything effects .. well everything.

The biggest clarity this book has given me is to solidify my belief in the phrase "everything happens for a reason" as well as "you create your own destiny." Now, you may be thinking these two phrases contradict one another - which you are right. Right in the sense that their is a missing element in my beliefs.

To be frank, no matter what you believe, as long as you have faith in what you believe in will see you through, period. So no matter what I say, if you have found a faith you trust, trust it with everything you are.

"Everything happens for reason" - This would assume that no matter what you do there is some big magical script that someone has written and no matter what you do - you will end up exactly in the same place that is written for you. However, what this book has continuously proven is that every one AND everything THING effects you and your next decision and therefore shapes you destiny every second of the day. Think about how many people you interact with everything, how many things you touch, pass by. Had you not bought that bagel from the coffee guy on the corner he would not have had the money to buy that winning lottery ticket. Had you not skipped that guy in the line at the mall, he wouldn't had the chance to bump into the love of his life. If you had not come home to your sweetheart and snuggled with them into bed, they go to sleep with peace of mind.

The next point however - "You shape your own destiny."
Basic physics - every action has a reaction. Everything you do, say and touch has a reaction from everything around you. Easy. The overlooked follow up to this statement is this: Everything action from someone else, generates a reaction from you as well. It's a never ending circle that begins the moment you wake up. And every action you make has changed not only YOUR life, but everyone around you. Overlooked statement - your reaction also changes the lives of everyone around you as well as your self.

Think of that math - 6,000,000,000 people in the world with even more actions & reactions to effect the way you shape your life. The universe can only present you with opportunities to reach your ultimate goals. It's up to you take advantage of those opportunities.

So even though you may have influenced the coffee guy to buy the winning ticket, it's up to him to watch the numbers be drawn. You may have introduced him to the love of his life, but it's up to him to muster the courage to ask for her number. And even though you come home to them every night, it's up to you to show them you love them the other hours of the day.

ya dig?
Z