“No matter what he does, every person on earth plays a central role in the history of the world. And normally he doesn’t know it.”—Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
“If we are all to seek our own Personal Legend, do you believe Legends intertwine?”
“If the universe is One, and of an originating God-source, how could they not?”
“And if you believe in Personal Legends, and a month ago, were wrapped up in Fates and Destinies, how do you reconcile the two? Do you believe what you read and think in a moment and then give it up when you discover something new?”
“Our Legends are our Destinies, but we are still afforded free will. It is our decision to follow: whether we live in faith the calling of our souls or quiet what God calls to us to do and go instead with the currents of the world. We are meant for a purpose, whether our purpose is realized remains on our will to act.”
“How do you know?”
“I don’t. It’s faith. We must trust our souls, trust the omens as we see, and—if we do—act as we sense our Legends, Destinies, call. Legend and Destiny are only in conflict if we deny what we sense to do.
Too often, we defer and label fate as what comes as a consequence to our inaction and deference. Such is a settling, not a manifestation of Destiny. Destiny requires us to act. Destiny, and what we call fate in the sense just said, are not in accord, and when we see the consequence of our own denial as the becoming of our Destiny, we live despair of greater and lesser degrees. Realization requires action, even when we doubt its logic in perspective to our existing state. That is why it’s sometimes scary, and why so many times we defer our own ability to affect or worlds, resigning our fate instead to a product of conditions we declined to change. Too often, we hold to what we know rather than pursue a greater, Legend and Destiny, that remains unknown.”
“Do you believe your Legend is tied to any others?”
“I do.”
“Who?”
“Many, and not always the obvious. There are many in my life that touched me, moved me, aided me on my course. I believe I may be and fulfill this same purpose to others. I don’t know who they’ll be or when I’ll come across them, but when I do, I want to be ready to play the part I am meant to fulfill, however great or small this role may be, in the pursuit of their own Legend.”
“Are all meetings transitory?”
“We all have lifelong friends. We all have family. These stay with us forever. There are others, too—even when not forever with us in time and space—that stay in our souls. I believe this is part of the eternal as well, for there is something we live from them, even when they are not among us, that continue to affect our lives.
I think, too often, we imagine Destiny and Legend as something great that only the strongest among us can achieve, but I believe they are something different. I believe our Destinies and Legends, if truly meant for us, are something we can all achieve, but they require what the world tells us to dismiss and which we’ve already spoken to.”
“What?”
“Faith. Even when we fail to answer once, twice, however many times, God returns to us the opportunity to answer the call; and every time an opportunity reappears, it is another chance to answer and begin the course to our calling. If it is meant for us to achieve, so long as we answer the call—live as we perceive our Destiny demans—we will reach where we are meant to be. Our end state is not a utilitarian mean of sameness, spoken of in false Utopias of this world, but a unique condition intended for each of us to attain in order to actualize a nearer Oneness with a greater transcendent. Our purpose is of God and not of Man, and when we focus on following the greater, the smaller worries take care of themselves.
When we find our purpose, seek our Destinies and Legends, the universe conspires to help us achieve it.”
“Is all that your thought?”
“Borrowed from a few books and put into my own words, sure. They aren’t really mine though. They are what Man’s thought and sought for meaning and purpose throughout our history. I’m just another voice speaking old thoughts to new ears.”
“What is your Legend?”
“To be present; to answer when I am called, to serve as I can see; to read the omens, trust, and live my faith, hoping goodwill—even if foolish to worldly eyes—may bring something better to others. My legend is to shape what I am meant to affect so that the momentum of my life may spread to others and further the goodness and love already imparted on me. It’s nothing grand, but it is good, and I believe it will have effect.”
“And if you fail?”
“Then the world is better still, in small ways, by my efforts and the presence in which I lived. What do I have to lose?”
“Aren’t there things that you want for yourself?”
“Very much, and I will work for them accepting, should they not come to be, that I am not entitled to my wants.”
“And if attained?”
“I will be grateful for their gift.”
“And world comforts?”
“I am blessed with many. I have lived in mud huts, in holes, tents, on the ground. What we call not enough is prosperity to most of the world. We are all rich if we choose to see our gifts, as little as our world around may speak to them. And I want good people in my life. Destiny does not bring all that I am meant to know without effort on my part. I will seek good people when I perceive one to be found. The people we seek are as much a part of our Destinies as those brought easily into our lives. There is a reason why we’re drawn, whether for a moment or forever after. To realize their purpose in our Destiny—and theirs—we must trust, follow, and see.”