A Lesson from The Alchemist

If you have not yet read Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist, well, you should. I try to read it once a year. The short novel is written with brilliant simplicity and is filled with a lifetime of wisdom. Of the many lessons, one parable stands out from the rest. As best I can, i would like to retell it and I'll try to do it justice. 

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The Alchemist's Lesson:

Treasure hunters and scientists have scoured the world over for Alchemists, men said to be so in tune with the world that they are able to turn objects into gold. One day, following a rumor about a man in the desert of great wealth, an ambitious young man set out to find The Alchemist. It was dawn on the third day of his search when he saw a massive palace in the desert. 

Arriving at the doorway, the young man could see more beautiful furnishings than he had ever seen in his short lifetime. A man greeted him and said if he wished to see The Alchemist he would have to wait quite some time. The Alchemist was every busy. 

The sun was beginning to set by the time the boy was told The Alchemist would see him. "How can I help you?" The Alchemist said in a voice fitting of an alchemist. 

"Sir, I want to be like you." the young man said. "Please let me be your student."

After a pause, The Alchemist finally spoke. "I see something in you, something special. Ill give you an opportunity to prove yourself. Stay here." The alchemist left the room briefly. And returned with a beautiful crystal carafe and a ornate silver spoon. Filling the spoon with an aromatic oil from carafe, the Alchemist then handed the boy the spoon. 

The alchemist then said, "This oil is the rarest and most expensive oil in the world. Your task is to walk through my entire palace without spilling a single drop. I'll wait for you here, in my study." 

The young man, determined to prove his worth, focused more deeply then ever before. He made it back to The Alchemist's study without spilling any of the oil. 

Smiling and trying to contain his excitement the young man said, "Ive done it."

"Ah, it seems that you have," replied The Alchemist. "I knew that you could. And I knew that you would just love my home. What did you think of the tapestries in my map room? Which of my libraries seemed most inviting? Did you notice the intricacy of the woodworking on the doorways?"

Unsure of how to respond, the young man simply said "no, sir, I did not"

"I was afraid that you wouldn't," said the alchemist with the smallest of frowns. "Most people go their whole lives never looking up from the spoon. The key to alchemy is seeing all the tapestries and never spilling a drop."

It was a lesson the young man never forgot. 

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It is a lesson I hope to always remember.