I tend to feel happiest in direct proportion to the simplicity of my life. And the most fulfilled occasions rarely involve many possessions. Cycling with panniers, jumping on a train with a small pack in order to walk back home, out running at dusk, jumping starkers into a cold lake…

And yet I still accumulate so much Stuff. I am not ascetic. I like Stuff. I like gadgets, bikes, outdoor kit and books.

So I am not advocating puritanical minimalism. But I thought that if I am happiest when I don’t have much Stuff then I should get rid of some of the junk in my life.

This morning then I decided I would get rid of 10 things that I really do not need. Originally I called this post “Give 10 things away”. But then I realised that I’mm skint so I’mm going to eBay some of them, give a few to a charity shop and chuck one or two in the bin. Here then are the 10 things I am going to get rid of this morning.

– Camera lens I don’t use much.
– All the clothes I haven’t worn in about a month.
– Camping kit I don’t use much. I have spare stoves enough for an army!
– Books from my shelves that don’t merit keeping.
– Most of my ties (a relic from my brief dalliance with a proper job).
– My old heart rate monitor. I don’t need two.
– The coffee maker I had before I got this bad boy. I bought it at uni to hide the smell of football boots in my student digs. I thought, erroneously, that the smell of coffee would impress girls too…
– A couple of rucsacs I don’t really use.
– All the crap in the lower drawers of my desk that I never, ever look at. So why chuck it? Less clutter, clearer thinking. Or summat like that.
– All my CDs – everything is on iTunes anyway.

What can you get rid of today?

(If you agree with this you may not agree with this)