Acclimatize

There are so many lessons I have learned so far on this journey. I think the biggest lesson I have learned so far that I can use as a parallel in my life is learning to acclimatize. Let me explain. 

In every step of the camino, you have to take the time to let your body adapt to the journey. Before arriving, I was sure we were in the best shape to complete the camino. But I have come to realize, is that it doesn't matter how in shape you may be, what matters is how much your willing to put into the camino. Listening to your body is key. In order to listen to your body, your mind must be willing to go at the pace that is right for you. You have to let your mind an body adjust to te gradual change you will be going through. 

On our first day, we met a 75 year old French man named Joseph. He walked with us from Leon to San Miguel. I remember feeling a little disappointed when I saw people who were twice my age fly right past me. He told us that on this journey, you have to let your body acclamitize to what you are doing. You can't decide on the first day that you will walk 40-50 kilometres a day and feel great. You have to let your body get to one destination, relax and refuel, and increase with each day. You will realize that the more you listen to what your body needs, the further you can push it. On day one, we walked 26. On day two, we walked 30 and today, we walked 40. We are increasing our mileage even though the course is getting difficult because we allowed out body to adapt to each stop.

In life, we always try to rush to our desired destination. We rarely embrace the journey and the stops we make along the way. I know this camino is teaching me that in order for me to get to where I want to go, I must embrace every stop I make along the way. If you learn to love where you are at that moment, you make more meaningful connections, create a greater pain tolerance, a fonder heart, a sharper mind, a greater intuition and a profound respect for others and above all yourself.

We must learn to acclamitize in every part of the journey. I think that we will be a better, stronger and more resilient person once you arrive to your desired destination if we learn to do so. 

I hope you enjoyed this lesson as much as I did. With all those kilometres, I have so much time to think and process how far I've come and how far I am capable of going in life. I wish this kind of awakening for all because just thinking about how much I have grown gives me chills and brings tears to my eyes. This journey is a true blessing in disguise.