He was born into a “modest New England family” in Concord, Massachusetts. His father owned and operated a pencil factory, and his mother rented out parts of the family’s home to boarders.
He was a bright student and was accepted into Harvard, where he excelled. He graduated having received the most prestigious education. He was smart and driven. His father was a successful businessman. He could have followed in his father’s footsteps, or pursued a distinguished career in law or medicine. All the stars had aligned for him to live the “good life” of luxury.
But something nagged at him. He felt like there was something more than the conventional path that society was pushing him into. He wasn’t content with following the crowd. He returned home and began working in his father’s factory while pondering on his life path. Restlessness continued to plague him.
After working for a couple years he determined to embark on an experiment to live alone in the woods. “I went to the woods,” he said, “because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” With that preface, Henry David Thoreau walked away from a life of privilege and lived alone on the shores of Walden Pond. From his two-year experiment emerged his essay Walden, one of the greatest classics in American literature and the bible for simple living.
He wrote of observing people who had the “misfortune” of being born into wealth and being “crushed and smothered” under the load of lands and assets to care for. He concluded, “Most of the luxuries, and many of the so-called comforts of life, are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind.”
I couldn’t agree with him more.
Principle: Materialism Does Not Create Happiness—In Fact, it Hinders It
Wealth gives you the freedom to purchase nice material things, if that’s what you really want. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that, and everyone values different things. However, I would caution you against thinking that’s what gives you the good life. What good does it do you to achieve the 5 Day Weekend life- style technically on paper, and yet still be tied down by liabilities, stress, and hassle?
The good life is found in simplicity—the simplicity of meaningful relationships, unforgettable experiences, the freedom to simply be in the moment without worrying about bills and managing your stuff.
In my next posts, I will look at how you can achieve something akin to what Henry Thoreau did, without having to live by Walden Pond – with seven ways to create more simplicity.
In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you about what matters to you – what you’ve chosen to do in order to streamline your life and rid yourself of what doesn’t work. Thank you for sharing.
Secure your copy of the “5 Day Weekend” book. 5 Day Weekend: Freedom to Make Your Life and Work Rich with Purpose [Nik Halik & Garrett Gunderson]
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