Remember To Dream, Vol. 20
"The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do." - Kobe Bryant
This essay is dedicated to Kobe Bryant who passed away last year. It was his life’s mission to inspire children to follow their dreams - and no one did that better than him.
The Athlete and the Alchemist
“I was a coward. It’s very easy to have a dream, more difficult to bet on it. I postponed writing because I was afraid of failure – not failure of sales or success, but failure of expressing my emotions.”
These aren’t the words you’d expect to hear from the man that wrote ‘The Alchemist,’ a fable about following your dreams that has sold more than one hundred and fifty million copies worldwide.
But contradictions are what make Paulo Coelho one of the most interesting men in the world.
He’s one of the most successful and prolific writers of all time, but he didn’t publish his first book until the age of forty.
He’s completed a five-hundred-mile religious pilgrimage from France to Spain on foot, but he’s also done every drug known to man and been thrown in jail three times.
He’s sold more than two hundred million books, but he also promotes pirated digital versions of them on his website.
He considers himself to be a devout Catholic, but he has written books about adultery and prostitution.
He admits that he’s a mystery even to himself, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Every morning, I find myself a different person...if I knew in the first hours of the morning what I’m going to do...I think my life would be deadly boring because, well, what makes life interesting is the unknown. It is the risks that we take every single moment of our day, of a single day.”
Coelho practices Japanese archery as a form of meditation. And just as an archer’s bow can be both tense and relaxed, he has embodied a series of opposing ideas throughout his life.
He knew he wanted to become a writer from a very young age, but his parents resisted. They wanted him to become an engineer, like his father. When he refused, they took it as a sign that he was crazy and threw him in an insane asylum. He was seventeen years old.
By the age of thirty-nine, Coelho had already lived an eventful life. He was a reformed druggie- slash-hippie, former political activist, active occultist, song lyricist, and television show writer. He was on his fourth marriage. He owned a few apartments and he had $17,000 in the bank.
But he wasn’t fulfilled.
It was then that Coelho decided to make a sacred pilgrimage, from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France, to Santiago de Compostela, Spain – on the Road to Santiago. He started in July 1986 and walked for fifty-six days. It proved to be a pivotal moment in his life.
The Road to Santiago is a medieval network of routes extending from Florence, Italy, through Toulouse, France, and ending in Galicia, in northwestern Spain. It is also known as the Way of St. James, as it leads to the shrine of Saint James the Greater, one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Legend has it that the apostle’s remains were transported from Jerusalem to Galicia on a stone ship, after he was beheaded in AD 44. The shrine is considered to be the most famous pilgrimage site in the Christian world. People have been making the trip to Compostela to experience a spiritual awakening since the ninth century.
And so it was for Coelho. As he hiked through the winding mountainous paths and lush green valleys, beneath the stars, he had no choice but to reflect on his life. It’s a journey that would stir emotion in even the most hardened soul.
By the time he arrived in Santiago de Compostela, Coelho decided that he had to follow his heart and become a writer. In his own words, “I had a dream I could no longer live without fulfilling. It was killing me. So, I quit everything to write full-time.”
Coelho’s second book, ‘The Alchemist,’ was inspired by his pilgrimage. It’s a metaphor about a shepherd boy named Santiago, who needed to fulfill his dream. He wrote it in just two weeks. “It was already written in my soul,” he explains.
The book flopped. Only one person bought a copy the first week of its release. It took another six months to sell a second copy and that was to the same person that bought the first. His original publisher canceled his contract.
During this period, Coelho spent forty days in the Mojave Desert, which was cathartic in its own right. It taught him that you can discover life where you think life is nonexistent.
Coelho returned to Brazil more certain than ever that ‘The Alchemist’ would be a success. He explained, “because it was me in there, all of me, heart and soul. I was living my own metaphor.”
The story he had written was now compelling him to share it with the world. He knocked on different publishers’ doors until one was willing to take a chance on him.
The rest as they say is history.
‘The Alchemist’ stayed on the New York Times Bestseller List for more than three hundred weeks and is now the most translated book by any living author.
Just like the pilgrimage that sparked it, reading ‘The Alchemist’ can be a transformative experience. It is an uplifting adventure for the mind and soul. A magical story designed to be a catalyst for pursuing your dreams.
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At the same time as Coelho was making his pilgrimage, an eight-year-old African American boy was shooting hoops on an outdoor basketball court in Cireglio, a small town in Northern Italy.
He spent hours on that court, honing his obsession. Day after day. Night after night. The court was surrounded by rows of towering pine trees in the Pistoia Mountains. It was often shrouded in a silky, gray mist, which only added to the aura that something magical was brewing there.
At the age of three, while living in the U.S., the boy pretended to play in games he watched on television, mimicking the players’ moves and even taking breaks during timeouts.
When his family moved to Italy a few years later, he would regularly jump off the balcony of their house and run to a nearby church playground to shoot baskets for hours.
At the age of twelve, he joined his first basketball team in a town called Reggio Emilia. He had identified his dream by then, declaring to his friends that he would become an NBA star one day. They made fun of him, which only spurred him on.
Within a year, he was beating some of his father’s teammates one-on-one. These were experienced professional basketball players that were much bigger and stronger than he was.
Like Coelho, the boy had set his sights on a dream he could not live without fulfilling. A reason for being. His calling. Or, as it’s described in ‘The Alchemist,’ his Personal Legend.
Coelho and the boy were embarking on life-defining journeys at around the same time. Little did they know that their paths would overlap almost thirty years later. Or that a shared passion for storytelling and a desire to inspire others would bring them together.
The boy went on to become one of the greatest basketball players the NBA has ever seen, winning five championship titles, two Olympic gold medals, and every individual award in the game. By the time he retired, at the age of thirty-seven, he had accomplished his dreams in style. He had also cultivated a reputation as someone that specialized in crushing his goals.
He returned to visit Reggio Emilia in 2016, right after his retirement. “My story began here,” he told one newspaper. “My dream began in Reggio Emilia.” Standing in one of the local street courts, he said, “Would you ever think that one of the best players in the NBA grew up here? It’s as far as you can get from Los Angeles. It means that every dream is possible.”
The boy’s name was Kobe Bryant.
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If Coelho is a master of articulating what it means to follow your dreams, Kobe was a master of putting this philosophy into practice.
Both men are dreamers. Believers in the power of imagination. Positive thinkers with grand visions that they fulfilled against the odds.
Kobe was a philosopher in his own right. An eloquent storyteller and purveyor of wisdom. The devoted father of four girls. A big brother to the best basketball players in the NBA.
Coelho is not just a writer. He is an adventurer. He backed himself when others wouldn’t. He left behind a comfortable life to listen to his heart. And he followed up his ideals with action.
‘The Alchemist’ is the story that brought them together.
It was known to be Kobe’s favorite book. The one he always recommended to his friends and peers. From LeBron James to Kyrie Irving, many of the biggest names in basketball have been touched by Coelho’s words thanks to Kobe.
Kobe and Coelho, with birthdays one day apart, had more in common than it seems.
They shared a love of writing. They were united in their mission to encourage people to follow their dreams. Their intentions were aligned. And, in life, there can be no stronger bond.
The two men spoke on the phone, which Coelho described as a “magic moment.” Kobe quizzed him on storytelling and muses. They had plans to meet in the summer of 2018, but were unable to synchronize their busy schedules.
They were collaborating on a book aimed at inspiring underprivileged children to overcome adversity through sports when Kobe passed away. His death cut short his quest to fulfill his second Personal Legend, which was to encourage the next generation to dream.
Most people are lucky if they fulfill one mission in life. Kobe was on course to achieving two. A pursuit that was influenced by Coelho’s magical tale, which Kobe had read at least five times.
‘The Alchemist’ has become a talisman for millions of people around the world. A blueprint for those that can no longer ignore the voice of their heart. It is brimming with valuable lessons that can spur anyone to follow their dreams.
Both men embodied the book’s principles in their own lives. They have set real life examples of what it means to chase your destiny, even when it seems as if it is nothing more than a tantalizing mirage on the horizon.
Kobe, in particular, is a testament to what you can accomplish when you dream big, and have the courage and commitment to follow your heart. He was a real-life Santiago. A young boy who embarked on a quest to create a Personal Legend in a faraway land. A grown man who began a second journey in pursuit of a new prize. A treasure he already possessed within him.
Here are a few principles from ‘The Alchemist’ that Kobe applied to his own life.
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“It’s what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is.”
Coelho believes that everyone has a Personal Legend, or as he describes it, “the reason you are here...the only thing that gives you enthusiasm.”
He believes that each of us is aware of our Personal Legend. The thing we are most passionate about. The craft that excites our heart more than anything else. “It is our task here on this earth, and our human condition demands – demands – that we do it, to justify ourselves.”
Kobe identified his Personal Legend at the age of two, when he began watching his father play basketball on television. He chose the Los Angeles Lakers as his favorite team, even though his father played for the 76ers.
Anyone that met him as a child could see how obsessed he was with the game. In his own words, he would “geek out” on everything from the sound of the ball bouncing on different surfaces to its smell. He would even sleep with his basketball; such was his love for the game.
Kobe developed a knack for articulating his dreams. His larger vision was to become one of the greatest NBA players of all time. But he narrowed it down even further in ninth grade. “I told one of my best friends, when I'm a senior in high school I want to have the option to go to the NBA or go to college.” And that is exactly what happened.
The key to Kobe’s success was identifying his Personal Legend at a young age. He knew exactly what he wanted at every stage of his life and did everything in his power to get it. He channeled his love for basketball into arguably the strongest work ethic the game has ever seen.
According to him, when you find your Personal Legend, “you can't control that passion; you need to keep those flames burning. There's nothing you can do about it. You don't really have
much of a choice. You wake up in the morning, and you go. Even if you tried to dial it back, it'll just build up and up.”
Unbeknownst to most people, Kobe had another passion outside of basketball. Storytelling. He wrote throughout his basketball career, including the copy for most of the commercials he made. He even joked about winning an Oscar in a conversation with his agent, Rob Pelinka, in 2003. He went on to win an Oscar in 2018, two years after retiring from the NBA.
Having fulfilled one Personal Legend by becoming one of the greatest-ever players in the NBA, he set himself a new target: “to create stories that inspired children and families to bond, and for children to dream and have the initiative to do all they can to make their dream become a reality.”
He started his own production company, Granity Studios, won an Academy Award, published a series of children’s books, launched a podcast, and created a new television show. All in the space of four years.
Given more time, it is inevitable that Kobe would have become an inspirational storyteller. Death may have been the only thing capable of preventing him from achieving this dream.
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“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
Kobe set his stall to become a basketball legend with the Los Angeles Lakers at an early age, but the odds weren’t in his favor.
He wasn’t the tallest. He wasn’t the quickest. He didn’t have the highest vertical leap or the biggest hands. He was just a scrawny African American boy living in the North of Italy.
When he first started playing pickup games with other kids, he was considered to be small and thin. Physically unimpressive. He was often among the last ones chosen to join a scrimmage. Everyone underestimated him, until they saw him play.
His physical disadvantages pushed him to work even harder. He developed a “kill list” of other high school basketball players that were ranked higher than him and “he hunted them down.” That became his mission throughout high school.
While others built on their strengths, he concentrated on improving his weaknesses.He did exercises to strengthen his hands. He practiced with his left. He worked on his post-game and
pull-up jump shots. Over time, it meant that he developed a stronger, more balanced skill set than all the other kids in those rankings.
Growing up in Italy also turned out to be a blessing for young Kobe. The European game was more focused on fundamentals. It enabled him to learn how to be an all-around player, not one dimensional, like many of his peers that grew up in the U.S.
Later, when he attended high school in Philadelphia, he didn't get invited to parties. He had difficulty assimilating. He even had trouble conversing in English. So, he spent weekends alone dribbling a basketball, rather than socializing with other kids.
This was another favor from the universe. As he explained, "During those lonely hours, I discovered the hunger, motivation, and desire to become the best basketball player I can be."
A lot of other things had to happen for Kobe to fulfill his Personal Legend. To start with, the Lakers had to nab him in the draft, which wasn’t a sure thing. They traded for the rights to the thirteenth pick in the 1996 NBA Draft and watched as twelve other teams passed on him.
“He should have been taken number one,” said Jerry West, then general manager of the Lakers. “I’m surprised other people did not draft him. I’m really surprised because he was really special.”
Next, the Lakers had to acquire Shaquille O’Neal as a free agent from the Orlando Magic. By all accounts, O’Neal had been planning on re-signing with the Magic. The team had a promising young group of players and could offer him the most money.
Instead, they lowballed him, and criticized his rebounding and defense, which allowed the Lakers to swoop in and sign him right from under their noses. As one insider put it twenty years later, “I still can’t believe it happened.”
As talented as Kobe was, it’s unlikely that the Lakers would have become a dynasty without O’Neal. Phil Jackson may never have become their head coach. And Kobe may not have won five rings with the Lakers.
This single act of serendipity – or sheer stupidity on the part of the Orlando Magic– enabled Kobe to get one step closer to achieving his Personal Legend. The universe was conspiring to give him exactly what he needed.
The final piece of the puzzle was getting Phil Jackson – the most successful head coach in NBA history – to coach the Lakers.
Entering the 1997-1998 season, Jackson was only given a one-year contract by the Chicago Bulls. Jerry Kraus, the team’s general manager, allegedly told him, “I don’t care if it’s 82-and-0 this year, you’re fucking gone.”
Kraus ultimately broke up a team that would go on to three-peat for the second time. He let Phil Jackson go even though he knew it meant that Michael Jordan wouldn’t be back. It was another nonsensical decision made by a competitor that favored Kobe.
Jackson ended up joining the Lakers for the 1999-2000 season and led them to an NBA Championship his first year as head coach. Kobe went on to win all five of his titles with him at the helm. Jackson also introduced him to meditation, mindfulness, and tai chi.
Although the universe may have given him a push in the right direction, Kobe created his own luck. His obsession with the game led him down paths that brought him fortune.
As he explained it, “Basketball for me was the most important thing. Everything I saw. Books, TV shows, people. Everything was done to try to learn to become a better basketball player. Everything. When you have that point of view, the world becomes your library to help you become better at your craft.”
He viewed storytelling through this lens, explaining that “there are things inherent in storytelling that could help me become a better basketball player.”
In this way, Kobe’s original vocation, basketball, led to his next one. The love letter he wrote to the game, titled ‘Dear Basketball,’ won him an Oscar and forced people to take him seriously.
Basketball conspired to help him take positive steps towards his dream of becoming an inspirational storyteller. The law of attraction in action from every direction.
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“I see the world in terms of what I would like to see happen, not what actually does.”
Kobe had plenty of opportunities to give up on his dreams. As a teenager, friends mocked his vision of becoming an NBA great. As an adult, they questioned his sanity when he declared that he wanted to become a storyteller.
“When I was a kid, I had plenty of people telling me what the odds were for me to make the NBA,” he said. They projected their definition of what was possible onto him. And that is what most people will do to anyone with big dreams.
But he had enough self-belief and courage to rise above these expectations. He saw the world on his own terms. He visualized what he wanted and acted accordingly.
It was the same when it came time for him to retire. “I’ve always been told that as basketball players the expectation is that you play. This is all you know. This is all you do. Don’t think about handling finances. Don’t think about going into business. Don’t think that you want to be a writer – that’s cute. I got that a lot.”
People started telling him how he was going to experience retirement. That he could expect to be depressed, angry, lost, in denial. Another series of projections of their own worldview.
Once again, Kobe was able to transcend this negativity. He was wise enough to know that only he determined what was realistic for him. He had seen firsthand that there were no limits to what he could accomplish when he set his heart on something.
When asked how he was able to push himself beyond the limit of his capabilities, his answer was simple and beautiful. “I just dream. I have dreams. Dreams should be pure. A lot of times, when we’re born into this world, we actually end up going backwards. The more we mature, the more responsible our dreams become.”
We end up going backwards when we give into other people’s projections of their own limiting beliefs and accept their definitions of what “can actually happen.” All the world’s greatest achievements have been built on positive thinking, self-belief, and big dreams.
Kobe has valuable advice for us all, as we lay the foundations for our own Personal Legends. “Make sure your dreams always stay pure. Protect your dreams. Protect your imagination. When you do that, the world just seems limitless.”
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“I’ve learned things from the sheep, and I’ve learned things from crystal, he thought. I can learn something from the desert, too. It seems old and wise.”
Most people associate Kobe with a relentless work ethic and warrior-like focus. However, he considered curiosity to be his biggest asset.
He had always been inquisitive, never afraid to ask questions, no matter how basic they seemed. As he explained, “I’ll just cold call people and pick their brain about stuff. Some of the questions that I’ll ask will seem really, really simple and stupid, quite honestly, for them. But if I don’t know, I don’t know. You have to ask. I’ll just do that.”
Kobe didn’t just cold call anyone. He was deliberate in who he approached for advice. Always targeting people that were at the top of their respective games. In basketball terms, that meant only one person. Black Jesus. Aka Michael Jordan.
It started at the NBA All Star Game in 1998, during which Kobe took it upon himself to challenge Jordan. Their relationship evolved from there. He used to seek out Jordan after games, even though he knew that his teammates were sitting on the bus, waiting for him, sometimes for an hour. He used to call and text Jordan late at night, with questions about his game.
Jordan became his big brother and mentor. Speaking about Kobe, he said, “I admired him because of his passion. You rarely see someone who’s looking and trying to improve each and every day, not just in sports, but as a parent, as a husband.”
When Kobe decided he wanted to become more involved in business and startups, he reached out to Chris Sacca, a billionaire venture investor, who had helped finance a number of successful companies, including Twitter, Instagram, and Uber.
Sacca was skeptical at first. He gave Kobe some homework to do – articles to read and videos to watch – and waited. For the next few months, Kobe texted him at all hours of the night. It was so intense that Sacca’s wife jokingly asked whether the two men were having an affair.
Kobe viewed every new experience as an opportunity to learn. After making a guest appearance on the show, ‘Modern Family,’ he asked Christopher Lloyd, the show’s executive producer, if he could sit in on a session in the writers’ room.
Lloyd agreed to it, expecting it to be a social visit, like others he had accommodated in the past. Instead, Kobe took it seriously. He sat in a corner of the room and observed. Lloyd noted, “He was just quiet and he was interested in the process. He asked very curious, interested questions.”
Kobe believed that every person and experience could teach you something, but you had to be willing to explore. He explained, “You can’t learn if you don’t ask.”
If it is a sign of wisdom to admit you don’t know something, then it is a sign of determination to seek out the answers. Combining the two qualities is a surefire recipe for achievement.
Kobe consistently did this throughout his life. As a basketball player, he leaned on all the greats of the game. Later in life, he reached out to leaders in all the fields that interested him. He was never afraid to cold call or text someone with questions.
“I felt like I left no stone unturned and I learned as much as I possibly could,” he said. Describing his own story, he added, “It's one of constant evolution and constant growth. Just like every other person out there, it’s someone trying to figure out who they are.”
Every dream starts with the words, “What if?” Curiosity is what plants the seed of a Personal Legend in our imagination. It’s what leads us down rabbit holes that become lifelong journeys. It’s what we can learn from our children, whose minds are free of artificial limitations.
As Kobe put it, “Through curiosity, you will reach levels you didn't know were possible.”
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“The secret of life is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.”
The road to success is rarely a straight line. Failure often precedes success. It’s okay to fall before you rise, as long as you rise with enthusiasm and learn from your mistakes.
Granity Studios, Kobe’s production company, is modeled on Disney in many ways. Kobe used Walt Disney as an example to illustrate this principle. “Disney built Disney, and [people think] everything was perfect and [he] made every right decision. [But actually] he signed some really bad contracts. He was financially really, really struggling, and it’s OK."
Kobe had given himself permission to make mistakes. He had the foresight to understand that the most successful in any field had made their fair share of bad decisions on their way to the top.
He had experienced this firsthand during his rookie year with the Lakers. It was the final game of the Conference Semifinals in the 1997 NBA Playoffs and they were playing the Utah Jazz. He shot five airballs at critical points in the game that ultimately contributed to the Lakers losing.
He became a scapegoat for the loss. Clips of him shooting the airballs were replayed over and over on national television. His failure was laid bare for the world to see.
This would have been enough to crush the spirit of most seasoned NBA professionals. Not Kobe. He returned to the gym that night and shot baskets for hours. He studied the game from every angle to identify why he missed those shots. He looked for constructive lessons.
“I shot five airballs on national television, in front of millions of people, that cost us a series, and I'm eighteen. I'm fine. You got to look at the reality of the situation. You got to get over yourself. You're not that important. Get over yourself. After that, it’s why did those airballs happen?”
He realized that every shot was on line, but short. He just didn’t have the legs. He had gone from playing thirty-plus games a year in high school to eighty-two games in the NBA.
He needed to train differently. He made adjustments to strengthen his legs and his overall endurance. He never wavered in his self-belief. He never made excuses. He took action to make sure he wouldn’t repeat the same mistake ever again.
“It helped shape me. A lot of times as a young player, you don’t see how a situation like that can pay off in the end. But if you use it to drive you, use it to motivate you, then, you can stand where I’m standing now and look back at it with a lot of fond memories.”
By the same token, ‘The Alchemist’ would not have seen the light of day if Coelho himself hadn’t shown similar resilience. He could have given up on his dream when the book failed to
get traction and his publisher canceled his contract. He could have stopped knocking on doors after hearing enough rejections.
But he didn’t. And that is the secret. To remember that the only guaranteed way to fail at anything in life is by giving up. As long as you persevere, you have a chance at success, no matter how small.
As Kobe put it, “You have to be open-minded and not be rigid. If you’re rigid, that’s weakness. All you can do is forget about the bad stuff and then move on. You just kind of roll with it, you just kind of learn. I will not make the same mistakes in the future that I have made in the past. I will make new mistakes, I am sure. And I will learn from them, too. You have to be fluid.”
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“Wherever your heart is, that is where you will find your treasure.”
Love is the key to living. Find what you love. Follow your heart. Do what you love. Make your heart sing. While these sentences may sound like hollow platitudes, they’re not. The secret to success is so simple, but we choose to make it hard.
We allow other people’s perceptions to influence our choices. We allow the voice inside our head to create doubt and overcomplicate life. We conjure up artificial images of what we’re supposed to be doing. We learn how to dream responsibly. We dull our curiosity. Like the walking dead, we forget what it means to be alive.
Love gives meaning to all things. Our heart is a built-in compass, pointing us towards joy. All we have to do is listen. Everything else is just noise.
Love at its peak is obsession. The kind of obsession that compels an artist to toil for weeks on a painting. The kind of obsession that forces an author to rewrite the same sentence a dozen times. The kind of obsession that convinces someone to commit every ounce of energy they have to one sport from the age of two.
Kobe wouldn’t have become Kobe without love. He was a specialist in dreaming. Imagination was his roadmap. Passion was his fuel. He found his treasure by following his heart. His legendary work ethic was driven by a devotion to basketball. That was his competitive edge. He just loved the game more than anyone else.
“That's the trick, isn’t it? Finding what you love to do. We talk about hard work all the time. If you have to get up every single morning reminding yourself how hard you have to work, then you should find a new profession. That shouldn’t be there.”
We can learn from our children, who are experts in using their imagination. Our children know how to listen to their heart and dream without limits. They know how to simplify life and find joy in the little things. They are fearless. Failure is a natural part of their evolution.
Kobe remained a child at heart throughout his life. The toddler that mimicked the basketball players he watched on television. The young boy that practiced making baskets for hours on end in the hills of Northern Italy. The teenager that spent weekends refining his game, while his peers were out socializing. The grown man that outworked everyone in the NBA.
He described it best in the poem he wrote to commemorate his retirement, titled, ‘Dear Basketball.’
“I’ll always be that kid, With the rolled up socks, Garbage can in the corner, :05 seconds on the clock, Ball in my hands. 5...4...3...2...1.”
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Paulo Coelho almost died in 2011. A close friend lost a family member to a heart attack and had become paranoid that it could happen to him. So, she demanded he undergo a stress test. He obliged, thinking nothing of it. After all, he led a healthy life. He walked every day. He ate well. He lived in nature.
The doctors found a blockage in his heart that would have killed him in less than thirty days without intervention. They scheduled emergency surgery for the next day. That night, he reflected on the prospect of death.
“I realized that if I die tomorrow, I’ve spent more than half my life with the woman I love. How many people on this planet can say that? The second thing I thought is, I did everything. I was crazy. I went to extremes. So, I have nothing to regret, because I did everything. And the third thing I realized is that I fought for my dream. I did not take no for an answer. I wanted to be a writer, and I wrote. So, I thought, If I die tomorrow, it’s all okay.”
According to Coelho, when we die and meet God at the gates of heaven, we will not be judged by whether we did good or evil. The judgment will be more nuanced. “God is going to ask only one question: did you love enough?”
As he wrote in ‘The Alchemist,’ “to realize one’s destiny is a person’s only obligation.” We are put here to pursue our Personal Legend. To dream. To love. To follow our heart.
Coelho and Kobe shared a passion for inspiring others to dream. They came together to collaborate on a book to help underprivileged children overcome adversity. Their Personal Legends overlapped for one fleeting moment.
That endeavor died with Kobe’s passing. Coelho deleted the draft of the book, explaining that “it didn’t make sense to publish without him. It wouldn’t add anything relevant to him or his family.” But its spirit lives on.
We can’t delete the draft of Kobe’s story. His example will forever be etched in our memory. A muse for the next generation of dreamers. Proof of what you can accomplish when you follow your heart. Testament to the power of love, curiosity, and a childlike imagination.
The best way to prepare for death is to maximize life. The best way to maximize life is by living in the moment and doing what you love. Leave everything on the floor. Minimize regret.
Kobe described it as “squeezing every ounce of juice out of this orange.” Coelho’s answer is more philosophical, but the message is the same. “Once someone asked me, “What do you want to be your epitaph?” So, I said, “Paulo Coelho died when he was alive.”
Kobe couldn’t have been more alive than when he was with one of his daughters, supporting her in pursuit of her dreams.
The scrawny kid that made his pilgrimage from the North of Italy, through Philadelphia, and to Los Angeles had found his treasure.
Along the way, his heart was touched by the words of a Brazilian writer, whose journey started at around the same time. United by intention, the two men’s paths crossed many years later.
Rather than ask what might have been, we must celebrate what was.
Kobe carved his name in basketball history. Without realizing it, he had fulfilled his real Personal Legend. He had written the most powerful story of all. A story that will inspire future generations of children to follow their dreams.
The story of his life.
I’d love to hear your feedback or connect with you. Email me at omar@omarfarha.com.