Let go of futile baggage, be at ease with life

Inlife, we strive for success, peace and happiness. We aim to achieve stability and comfort, both external and internal. But very often, we miss the one fundamental truth and that is the less luggage we carry, the more comfort we experience. This isn’t just about physical luggage.

It is about emotional, mental, spiritual and material luggage. The lighter our load, the smoother our journey. This principle applies to every stage of life. We just need to pause, reflect and recognise how unnecessary weight, whether physical or guilt, ego, regrets or attachments slows us down, drains our energy and clouds our vision.

Let us begin with what we watch every day. The school-going kid! When children begin their academic journey, they are full of curiosity, innocence and joy. But soon, the weight of the school bag increases and also the expectations and pressure on the child. A nursery child carries only essentials like books, colours and playful things. But as they progress to higher grades, their bags become heavier, symbolising how life burdens them with more than what is necessary. When children carry less, they feel freer. They walk faster.

They think clearly. They enjoy their journey. But when they are weighed down, their enthusiasm wanes, their back hurts and their joy fades. The same principle applies to adults, professionals, leaders and everyone walking the path of life.

Whenever we travel, we realise how much easier it is to move when we carry a few things. More luggage, more pain. Those who travel light reach faster, adapt better and are less worried about what they might lose. Similarly, in life, we are all travellers moving from one place to another, one phase to another. Some shift homes.

Others shift jobs. Some change cities and some transition from one relationship to another. In every transition, those who carry less emotional and mental baggage adjust better. When we cling to past mistakes, broken relationships, grudges, or past glories, we prevent ourselves from embracing the present or preparing for the future. Philosopher Seneca said, “He who is everywhere is nowhere.” A person divided between past hurts and future fears never lives fully in the present. Forgiveness, therefore, becomes the greatest baggage remover towards others and ourselves. When we forgive, we drop the unnecessary. We free ourselves.

The idea of less baggage is central to almost all religious traditions. In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna to act without attachment, ego and expectation. In Buddhism, the path to enlightenment requires letting go of desires and attachments. In Jainism, renunciation and minimalism are means to spiritual progress.

In Islam, Prophet Muhammad said, “Detach from the world, and Allah will love you.” The spiritual path in Islam values simplicity (zuhd), humility and trust in divine providence over attachment to possessions or status. Even in the Christian tradition, the teachings of the Desert Fathers and mystics emphasise inner silence, solitude and detachment from worldly distractions.

In each tradition, the path to spiritual progress requires us to drop something and not accumulate more. Mahatma Gandhi embodied this philosophy in his daily life.

His belief in non-possession was not merely about material goods. It was about renouncing ego, pride and greed. He famously said, “The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed.”

What do we mean when we talk of baggage in this context?

•Emotional : Resentment, anger, unresolved trauma.

•Mental : Overthinking, guilt, self-doubt.

• Material : Hoarding, unnecessary possessions.

•Spiritual: Ego, pride, judgment, righteousness.

The more of these we carry, the farther we are from peace. A person who learns to let go becomes lighter, freer and more at ease with life and its uncertainties.

I have lived a life filled with struggle, responsibility and challenges. From my childhood to my journey in public service, I have seen both extreme poverty and the heights of success. But through it all, I have held on to a simple philosophy of carrying less, giving more.

Even today, despite heading large institutions and organisations, I strive to keep my personal life simple by having less or no baggage. I avoid unnecessary materialism, I forgive quickly and I try not to dwell too long on setbacks.

That is my path to more comfort. It is about mental peace. It is about being able to sleep peacefully and maintain a natural glow in the skin. It is about having clarity in decision-making. When your heart is not clouded with anger or jealousy, and your mind is not heavy with doubt or over-analysis, you work better, lead better and live better.

In today’s world, success is often equated with accumulation of wealth, status, recognition, even followers. But true success lies in simplification.

The more we accumulate, the more we fear losing. The more we fear, the more anxious we become. Covid taught us this truth in a harsh but clear way. When everything shut down, we realised how little we actually needed to survive. It was not our wardrobes or luxury cars or TV screens that gave us peace.

It was health, family and inner strength. In leadership too, the most effective ones are those who delegate, trust and keep their egos in check. They create teams, empower others and release control. That is less luggage.

The journey of life is between birth and death. Everything in between is movement - constant, unpredictable and temporary. We come into this world empty-handed. We leave the same way. Whatever we gather is only temporary luggage.

What remains is how we lived. Did we live joyfully? Did we forgive? Did we release what no longer served us? Did we lighten our load? If yes, then our journey was comfortable. Peaceful Spiritual.

Today, I encourage every reader, not as a moral instruction, but as a heartfelt invitation to examine these questions. You may find that the path becomes clearer.

And your heart finally feels at ease. It is the key to peace, the root of forgiveness and the secret to a life well-lived. Let us all strive, in our own ways, to carry less, so we may live more.

(Author is a former MP and founder of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology and Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences in Bhubaneswar)