In The Alchemist (1993), by Paulo Coelho, a young shepherd, Santiago, goes forth to seek his destiny and his fortune. His journey is directed by his need to interpret a dream about finding a treasure. He is helped on his journey by the people he runs into who offer advice and differing opinions about where he is going and what he is doing. In the end, Santiago's journey leads him right back to the same church where he had his initial dream. He finds his treasure right where it all began, but he wouldn't have recognized the treasure if he hadn't made the journey. This story has been called a parable, or a symbolic tale to help people think about their own journeys, or personal legends, through life. While my own personal legend in discovering that I wanted to be an electrician was not as roundabout as Santiago's, I did have to go through several stages, just as he did, to get to the point where I understood
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