Letting Go & Trust

The Camino has a way of teaching you things you didn’t even know you needed to learn.
One of the biggest, maybe? Letting go.

Letting go of plans when the trail changes or looks different than what you had in your mind.

Letting go of being comfortable, when your muscles ache and your backpack feels like someone loaded rocks for you to carry. 

Letting go of the need to rush, to compete, or prove something to everyone.

Somewhere along the way, as the miles add up, the blisters show up, the laughter with those foolish enough to believe you when you said ‘it will be fun’, and the quiet moments alone, you begin to realize how much unnecessary weight you have been carrying—and you question how and when that all happened—-it’s not just on your back, it’s in your mind. And I have found that the mind’s baggage is much heavier than anything I can put in a backpack.

The Camino doesn’t care about your schedule, how successful you are, or the version of yourself you carefully constructed at home. Out here, everyone becomes simple again. Just people walking forward, one step at a time—looking forward to good food, a place to rest your head, human interaction and taking it all in.

And maybe that’s the lesson ——to let go of perfection—to let go of expectations—to let go of worries, hurts, and the need to control everything.

The Camino gently reminds you that life moves a little easier when you stop holding on so tightly.

On the Camino you must trust the path, trust your feet, trust that all things needed will appear in time—as they should because ‘The Camino provides’.

And slowly, you begin to feel lighter.

Not because the walk got easier…but because your weight got lighter, and you trust.