Less

Less

I’m a man of few words. But then I’m also someone who has lots to say.

So I have decided on creating a bit of a challenge for myself. I have decided that each week, I will allow this website to throw me a word and I will write about it. The website isĀ http://watchout4snakes.com/wo4snakes/Random/RandomWord

I have no clue on how credible the website is, but it gave me my first word – “Less”

And I love it. It’s one of my favorite words. It is what I aspire towards.

Less, is more.

My Dad spent an insane amount of time pushing me to be more ambitious. To be more. To be something. And I think he was right. All those talks (I used to called them lectures back then), did have an impact on me. But in an unconventional way. I became a minimalist.

Now I can talk for hours on minimalism and you’d get bored out of your skull. So I wont. But I will say a few things. These might be opinions, but in my mind, these are facts.

We are slaves to our possessions. Our houses, cars, furniture. We think we own these things, but, in reality, these things own us. So much of our identities is locked into these things. We judge how far we have come on the basis of where we live, what car we drive, what school our kids go to.

But those are simply your attributes. That’s not YOU.

And your attributes go beyond your possessions. When we are asked to define who we are, the first thing we say is our job title – “I’m VP of so-and-so company”. That’s baggage as well. And if you ask me, that’s probably the biggest of them all. I’ve seen people invest their entire lives into their career. And have nothing more than an email signature to show for it. The question that needs to be asked is – “Have you made a difference in the World? Is someone’s life better because of you?”

But the day you declare your freedom from your possessions and attributes, is the day you are really free.

That’s when you have found true freedom. That’s the day you have mustered the courage to strip yourself of all that you possess and look yourself in the eye – And have smiled at the person you see.

It’s not easy. I can guarantee it. One of my favorite quotes of all time is from Richard Bach’s novel – One. It says – “I gave my life to be the person I am today. Was it worth it?”

If you are reading this, I want you to know that 99 times out of 100, the answer may be no. But I will say this… Travel through life with less baggage. You’ll be able to go further and life will be fuller.

Less is actually more.

The Warrior

Read More