The Fifth Mountain by Paolo Coelho

This book was my 7th novel I've read that was written by Paolo Coelho. I started it when I was in the Philippines in February and somehow had a hard time getting through the middle section of the book. I finally picked it back up last week and completed The Fifth Mountain.

When I flipped through the final pages, I couldn't help but think to myself, "That's it??!" I felt disappointed. Robbed almost.

But just as in all his other books, Paolo got me thinking deeper into the moral of the story. The story is basically a story of a prophet, Elijah, who encounters the Lord in a "battle" and demands respect for Him. In the end, there really is no climactic ending. And I suppose that's what Paolo had wanted; the story is supposed to make it's meaning known and segue into the reader's life.

What this novel means to me is expectations vs growth. This is something every human must encounter at least once in his or her life.

One time in early 2013 during a road trip to San Jose, we stopped at Denny's for breakfast and had an interesting talk. My mentor, Kuya Boy, asked me, "How old are you?" I replied, "30."

He looks at me calculatingly and responds, "Around 2009 to 2010 all the way through 2012... Those years were tough for you." I was astonished. Those years were some of the toughest years in my life. I had endured 3 break-ups within those 3 years. At that very moment, I had been going through a phase that felt like I was enduring 3 big break-ups at once.

"How did you know that?" I asked. He explained that, "When we reach the late 20's, we start to shed the old beliefs we had. It's like a skin. In life, for things to change, we have to shed the old skin and fit the new skin we have. Sometimes people don't want to change and don't recognize that things need to change, so during those transition years, people struggle with their beliefs. Some don't make it out of the 20's alive for this reason. You'll see a lot of people during those years die. Most times it's because they can't handle the transition. Where you are right now, you're coming out of it. You're almost done with the transition."

I feel like I'm coming out of the transition. I have to be like Elijah and continue to work hard and keep my core values at my focus. There are changes that are happening within me and I can feel it. I will continue to trust in the Universe and all everything to fall into place.