Henry David Thoreau, in his book Walden, stresses the importance of making one’s life as simple as possible. He stresses the importance of simple living, of being self-sufficient, of being out in nature, of avoiding materialism. Most of us tend to organize our lives in exactly the opposite way. We cram in more activities into the day than what fits. We try to offload work and chores on others and find ourselves in complicated dependencies where we rely on others that may let us down, rather than deciding that simply doing it ourselves takes as much time but removes all the stress. We feel we’re too busy to get ourselves out in nature, despite all research showing that it reduces stress, improves immune function, lowers blood pressure and heart rate, improves mental clarity and creativity as well as mental well being. We keep falling into the trap of believing that once we get the next “thing”, our life is going to be perfect. Many of our behaviours tend to have the opposite effect of what we thought it would. So, as my challenge to you today: what can you do to simplify your life? And why haven’t you done so already?