To truly be defeated, you have to consent to it — to agree that you have lost. You can’t always control your circumstances; you can’t always influence the choices of others in ways that might benefit — or at least, not harm — you. Things won’t always go according to plan, and often don’t. You can’t always avoid losing things you want, having roadblocks placed in your way, or dealing with people who don’t believe they can win unless they can make you lose, and convince you that you have. Your choices determine your path — and someone trying to shift you off of your path might impede your progress, maybe for a long time. But they can’t make you step off of it. Only you can choose that. They can take everything you have except that choice — and your will. Follow the path you have chosen, and don’t consent to buckle to someone else’s idea of defeat.