Curated™ for You's Key Ideas from The Alchemist
by Paulo Coelho

What is personal calling?

It is God's blessing, it is the path that God chose for you here on Earth. Whenever we do something that fills us with enthusiasm, we are following our destiny.

Fear holds us back and stops us from taking risks. Any new pursuit requires entering uncharted territory - that's scary. But with any great risk comes great reward. 

The experiences you gain in pursuing your dream will make it all worthwhile.

The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times. Because the eighth time could be your breakthrough.

The boy in the story lost his gold (all the money) about 2 times during his journey. But that didn't stop him pursuing his destiny. He worked again and again to earn more money and keep chasing his dreams.

Before a dream is realized, the World tests everything that was learned along the way.

It does this not because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we've learned as we've moved toward that dream. That's the point at which most people give up.