The Climb

“But I, I gotta keep trying, gotta keep my head held high/ there’s always gonna be another mountain/ I’m always gonna wanna make it move/ always gonna be an uphill battle/ sometimes I’m gonna have to lose/ ain’t about how fast ill get there/ ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side/ it’s the climb.”
The Climb: Miley Cyrus

The song The Climb by Miley Cyrus shows exactly how hard it is to continue through your everyday life. It tells you that no matter how hard something seems to be, you have to keep trying. She even mentions that sometimes you have to fail, but even if that happens, you have to get up, dust yourself off and try again. This shows that life is tough, but you can’t give up. I’m sure that this is what people from other times and cultures think. For example, in ancient Greece, a builder may have failed at building something, but that doesn’t mean that he didn’t try it again and again until he got it right. From any way that you look at it, whether it’s from a different time of a culture, you know that life is hard and you can’t give up.

Choice of a Lifetime

Choice

Choice wrestles with itself
Wearing nothing but a black cape
and decides with a single knock out

As you can see, my poem is about all the choices you have to make every day. It shows that every choice you make is made simply by choosing. All you have to do is pick, and although it may be hard sometimes, in the end you always just pick, as easy as snapping your fingers. That’s it, that’s all I wanted to say, it’s that the only thing to do is pick and once you pick, it’s over. This is something that has been happening all the way since the beginning of life on Earth, and happens to all cultures. Even during the really early times, people have been making choices. This happened in ancient Greece, in the medieval times, during the World Wars, and even now. People always have choices to make, whether its about if they should bomb a country or if they should where a skirt or jeans.

Each Day Brings An Eternity

“Because it’s not love to be static like the desert, nor is it to roam the world like the wind. And it’s not love to see everything from a distance like you do. Love is a force that transforms and improves the Soul of the World,” (Coelho 143). In The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, a young shepherd named Santiago goes in search of treasure. He soon discovers that his treasure is not only physical but also spiritual, when he finds his one and only love. His travels take him from Andalusia in Spain, all the way to the pyramids in Egypt. Along his journey, he meets many different people, overcomes tremendous obstacles, and finds true love. Santiago successfully fulfills his destiny by possessing open-minded views, determination and an adventurous spirit.

To complete his journey, Santiago remained open-minded to conquer some of the obstacles along the way. For example, in the beginning of the story, he met King Melchezidek and a gypsy. They both told him to go find his treasure at the Egyptian Pyramids. Because Santiago is open-minded he believed them even though it was a bit wide-ranging to look for hidden treasure. Also, while he was staying at the oasis, the boy, as Coelho called him, had a vision. He was watching falcons fly when he saw a huge army approaching the oasis, ready to attack. He immediately went and told the chieftains, and he saved the oasis Al-Fayoum. Obviously, without an open mind Santiago could have believed that his vision was a mirage, or he could have just ignored it. Finally, Santiago shows being open minded when the alchemist tells him to turn himself into the wind. “He is going to transform himself into the wind,” (Coelho 134). Turning into the wind isn’t exactly normal, but he kept an open mind and tried it. As you can see, Santiago is very receptive to new ideas, but he has to be careful to not get distracted from his primary objective.

Clearly, Santiago shows amazing determination in The Alchemist. In the beginning of the book, when he first gets to Africa, he gets robbed. He goes to find a job instead of begging. He soon makes enough money to return home and get even more sheep, but he decides to go find his treasure instead. “What would it cost to go over to the supplier warehouse and find out if the pyramids were really that far away?” (Coelho 62). This shows Santiago’s determination because although he could return to a familiar place, and live a better life, he wants to find his destiny. In another part of the book the boy wants to stay in the oasis with Fatima. He was willing to do anything to stay with his dearest, but she convinces him to carry out his fortune. Finally, at the end of the book Santiago was badly beaten up by some robbers. One of the robbers told him that he had a dream about a treasure in Spain, and immediately Santiago knew where his treasure was. Even though the boy was near death, he got up and went to find his treasure once and for all, presenting his boldness. Santiago is evidently determined and daring during this whole book.

Santiago has a very adventurous spirit when it comes to treasure hunting.
Foremost, the boy wanted to travel the world, and he went about this by becoming a
shepherd. That meant that he would have had to sleep in open spaces outdoors with just
his sheep. This shows just how adventurous Santiago is, because he wanted to do
something that is usually undesirable to follow his dream. In another part of The
Alchemist Santiago’s thoughts are shown, “Maybe the world had other hidden treasures,
but he had a dream!” (62). This shows that Santiago is bold because he has a dream and
he would to follow it no matter what crossed his path. Finally, Santiago shows that he is
truly daring when he has his first encounter with the alchemist. The alchemist came up
and overpowered him by putting a sword to his head, but Santiago stayed and felt a thrill
from being in danger. Surely you can see that Santiago is bold, since he felt excited and
superior when he was on the brink of death. Unmistakably, Santiago is a very
adventurous individual.

In the beginning of the novel, Santiago was just a young shepherd boy, now; Santiago has become a brave, dignified man. Since the first page, Santiago has grown, using his open-minded ways, determination, and adventurous spirit to gain his personal legend. The boy started his journey in Spain, and ended his journey at the roots of an old sycamore tree in an aged church in the same place. As he stood next to his treasure, Santiago saw that his treasure was not only gold, but also love. Santiago’s story has showed us that not everything is what happens at the end, but the steps that it takes to get there, “Each day, in itself, brings with it and eternity,” (99).

Obviously, many people have many different traits, and everyone has traits that help you succeed in your destiny. For example, my trait is that I’m determined, like Santiago. But my determination is a bit different than Santiago’s. My determination is to succeed so that I don’t fail. Santiago’s determination is simply to succeed. Now, how does this help me fulfill my destiny? Well, if you aren’t determined you never want to win. For instance, in school I want to do well and get A’s, so that I’m not average and get B’s and C’s. I will set high standards for myself so that I can challenge myself to do well, to be better than what I already am. Also, in sports, like in climbing, I like to push my limits because I know that if I put my mind to it, I can do it, even if I don’t have the physical ability. So for me I feel like I have to reach my destiny, I need to reach it, because then, if I don’t, then I have failed. Now, normally, this would be a bad trait, but for me, it pushes me to succeed, to achieve my personal legend.