Are you your own master?

A lot of people set resolutions around the turn of the new year.  If you are resolute, you probably make goals on a whim.  If you cannot achieve what you set to accomplish--provided the action is not predicated on the actions and decisions of another--then you are not your own master.

If you are trying to accomplish the goal and not actively accomplishing the micro-goals that lead to the macro-goal, then you are not your own master. 

If you are attempting to rid something toxic from your life, there will come a point where you actually have to let it go.  Be it a person, a thing, a vice, or anything else you don't need. 

If you are tempted by what others have to offer and you know it's not good for you, and you still cannot say no, then  you are not your own master. 

One must even be able to say no to Jaime in all her glory.

I am not my own master, to the fullest extent I could be.  I drink pots of coffee a day because I need it to function.  I have no intention of stopping.    Nobody is perfect, but the point of it is to try to be the best you you can be.  Perhaps, regarding the mastery of our existence we must fix what we can control.  The best lesson is an extension of what I learned in elementary school--"Just say no."  I would extend that to say that we should also know when to say, "yes."

"Test all things and hold fast to what is good."  1 Thessalonians 5:21