Have you ever battled for control of your own life? Some of us fight that battle every day. The discouraging truth, however, is that our main adversary is not someone in our family or someone at work or someone who is angry at us. As Pogo once put it: "We have met the enemy and he is us."

I was encouraged to read that the French writer, Victor Hugo, author of the book on which the Broadway hit LES MISERABLES is based, had a habit of asking his servant to steal his clothes every morning. This meant Hugo could not go outside, and so was forced to carry on with his writing. Battling for control.

Trochilus, a disciple of Plato, was on a ship that sank at sea. Somehow Trochilus survived. When he reached home, he ordered his servants to wall up the two windows of his home which looked out upon…