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In this episode, we explore ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho, which is a book packed with pearls of timeless wisdom. One of the key lessons in the book is, “The reward for our work is not what we get, but who we become.” The Alchemist embodies that idea, because the boy in the story must embark on a long dangerous journey to find treasure, but in the end, the journey was not about treasure at all.
This video also features the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) which is akin to the story in ‘The Alchemist’. When we take a reward that we did not earn, it can destabilize and ruin our life. But this downfall will ultimately lead to a dissolving of the ego and a humbling process.
Carl Jung said, “Be careful of unearned wisdom” which is knowledge that arrives without the inner work, discipline, or maturity needed to hold it. Anything taken must be earned. A reward becomes a punishment if it is not properly earned.
The final story in this presentations comes from Dr. Anna Lembke’s book, Dopamine Nation. To further illustrate the point, Anna Lembke tells the story of a young man who stopped lying and faced the consequences of his actions, which ultimately caused him to become the person he was meant to be.
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