Coelho says another on of the most common obstacles to realizing our Personal Legend is, "the fear of the defeats we will meet on the path." When his money was stolen in Tangier, Santiago suffered a defeat that forced him into taking a menial job with the crystal merchant. There, while he labored for a whole year to earn money to return to his life as a shepherd in Andalusia, Santiago learned many lessons on everything from the art of business to the art of patience. Coelho says that, while defeats are an unavoidable result of the mistakes we make in pursuing our Personal Legends, "The secret of life is to fall seven times and get up eight times." By the end of today's reading, how do we know that Santiago has learned this lesson of persistence, which is one of the most crucial to the pursuit of his Personal Legend?
