In life, we all 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 that 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 recognize 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 the most basic image one we see every day- the school-going child. When a little child begins their academic journey, they are full of curiosity, innocence, and joy. But soon, the weight of the school bag increases, in physical weight and expectations, pressure, and comparisons. A nursery child carries only essentials like books with colors, stories, play activities.

But as they progress to higher grades, their bags become heavier, symbolizing how life begins to burden them with more than what is necessary. When the child carries less, they feel freer. They walk faster. They think more clearly. They enjoy their journey. But when they are weighed down, their enthusiasm decreases, their back hurts, and their joy fades. The same principle applies to adults, to professionals, to leaders, and to everyone walking the path of life.

Whenever we travel, we realize how much easier it is to move when we carry fewer 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 travelers 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 luggage 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. As the philosopher Seneca once 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 luggage remover towards others and ourselves. When we forgive, we drop the unnecessary. We free ourselves.

The idea of less luggage is central to almost all religious traditions from a spiritual and philosophical point of view. In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna to act without attachment, without ego, without expectation of results. That’s less luggage. In Buddhism, the path to enlightenment requires letting go of desires and attachments. That’s less luggage. In Jainism, renunciation and minimalism are means to spiritual progress. Again, less luggage. In Islam as well, the 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. Again, less luggage. Even in the Christian tradition, the teachings of the Desert Fathers and mystics emphasize inner silence, solitude, and detachment from worldly distractions. Again, less luggage. 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 organizations, I strive to keep my personal life simple by having less or no luggage. 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 at night 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. The pandemic taught us this truth in a harsh but clear way. When everything shut down, we realized 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 leaders are those who delegate, trust, and keep their egos in check. They don’t micromanage. They don’t carry every burden alone. They create teams, empower others, and release control. That is less luggage.

In the end, the journey of life is between birth and death. And everything in between is movement - constant, unpredictable, and temporary. We come into this world empty-handed. And we leave the same way. Whatever we gather in between 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.

Achyuta SamantaFounder – KIIT, KISS.Former Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha)