Your Personal Legend

In "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho, a young Andalusian shepherd boy sets out on the journey of his personal legend. A recurring dream instructs him of his necessity to trek across the African continent to the Pyramids of Egypt to find a treasure, but more than that his personal legend. In the book it explains personal legend like this: “One’s Personal Legend is what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is. “At that point in their lives, everything is clear and everything is possible. They are not afraid to dream, and to yearn for everything they would like to see happen to them in their lives. But, as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their Personal Legend….whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it’s because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. It’s your mission on earth” (21-22). Although many of us are still young, it seems as if our ability to reach our personal legend has diminished. Sometimes we blame our circumstances and think we cannot advance with our current surroundings. But Dallin H. Oaks counseled, "Let us give thanks for what we are and for the circumstances God has given us for our personal journey through mortality." Wherever you are in life, there is a reason. Some may wish as Tevye from "Fiddler on the Roof" to be a rich man or to change their circumstances. But the whole journey of life is to adapt to our circumstances and reach our goal. Everyday, you see other people who seem to have an easier life and you desire that, but the life you are living right now is where you are supposed to be. Everyone has a different purpose to fulfill, a duty to complete. Find out your duty and go to work. In "The Alchemist" a gypsy and an old king explained to Santiago where his journey in life should lead him. In real life, God leads us through the  Spirit and through things such as patriarchal blessings. God placed you in the position you are today, so that you can have the best tomorrow possible.