When I was younger – at the time this happened, I must have been 23 – I felt this drive to become a "master". It was this mystical need to become accomplished. Not a master of any one particular thing, but to be in some way ultimately wise and effective. Not to impose or dominate, but to personify wisdom and ability, and live it. I felt a burning drive, a need for this.

One day, I was waking up, just starting to regain my senses, when I heard a clear voice speak:

"Masters don't need."

Those three words caused a profound change in me. I realized I'm not even close to being a master. Not only that, but – I cannot get there by wanting to be. In order to get there, I have to learn to not need. Which includes not needing to be a master – or anything more than I already am – to begin with.

So I let go of that drive. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't have let it go previously. But now, it was as natural as shedding a skin; something peeled away I no longer needed. I realized it's okay to just be me. I may yet become a master one day – but that will be whenever I'm ready.