Possessions: Keep it Simple

For our purposes, the well-known mothers' scold "Just don't just sit there - do something!" might be better turned into "just don't do something - sit there!"

Look after Number One! The secret of contentment is stripping away all the non-essentials and getting down to the basics in life. Be thankful for every morning that your head rises from the pillow (if indeed you have one) and endeavour to enjoy every day whatever you are doing. It's the little things that really matter. Sometimes less really is more. Just go for it and do as you please.

Not only take the time to sniff the roses, but enjoy the summer one flower at a time! And take a cue from the migrating birds and winter in a warm place if you possibly can.

Simplify your life (and I mean drastically). You are better off without possessions (remember John Lennon's "Imagine"). In actual fact, possessions are a nuisance and it's very true that when you have nothing you have nothing to loose! I remember the anguish I felt in Saudi Arabia about what to do with all my stuff. And this was after years of what most would regard as very frugal living. And at least two major clear-outs in the years before that. At the end I either threw out or gave away many of the "indispensable" things that I had earlier been ready to bin, but then put back again, over and over again. A complete waste of sleeping-time!

And an even worse lesson was to follow once I was back in England, where, 18 months after coming back, my van was smashed open and my collection of tools and test equipment stolen! A curse? Or a blessing (albeit in disguise)?

Get down to the absolute basics in terms of clothes and other personal gear. Live like a soldier. Kip down in a sleeping bag. Limit yourself to two bags for your stuff (in order to travel light). Get your toolkits down to the most efficient minimum. Yes, I know it's a challenge. Rationalise your computer stuff. Throw the rest out or give it away!