The Way I Deal With Change In My Life

Major Events In Life

Major events in my life always have an impact such as getting sick, saying goodbye to people in my life, a disaster, trauma, divorce, etc.

The Therapy Called Hiking The Camino

I can reach for pills or go to therapy. All good options, but not enough! What I noticed on the *Camino was that most of the people I spoke to were there for themselves. The silence, the conversation, the togetherness, but also the loneliness. Besides that, they all had in common that they thought about life and wanted change in their life. Everyone I spoke to had said goodbye to something in their lives that no longer suited them. One had stopped drinking, the other had left a well-paid job, etc.

Day In Day Out!

I often see the same with people who take a sabbatical, but to a lesser extent. They want change! At the Camino I have miles of time while walking to think, say goodbye and start new habits. Life is so quiet on the Camino that it is almost addictive to linger on it! Life is simple on the Camino: eat, walk, eat, sleep and the cycle again. Day in day out! A rhythm that suited me and I would like to apply it in my daily work life. It's harder than expected. In the beginning, I can walk every day. Then when it's cold I skip a day and another and suddenly I haven't walked for a month. Because that rest point disappears, I also fall back into a stressful existence. Until I jump out of it again, because of a vacation or a walk.

Plant A Seed To Change

Nevertheless, a Sabbatical or a Camino does make sense over a holiday, because after a holiday I quickly fall into old patterns, after a Camino or Sabbatical there are always small changes in my living patterns, however small sometimes. The rhythm of eating, walking, eating, sleeping is good to plant a seed to change.

Me Being Picky In Life, A Habit Now

By all the small changes I made I came near to and nearer to my true self and there is more resting, and I have the option now to be picky in the jobs, volunteerwork, the hikes, the travels and the people I want in my life!

*I hiked the camino to think about what I wanted further from life and Databeet, not to party like some do on the Camino. I talked while hiking with my fellow hikers, but did not party with them or others. I am not a party animal and liked the quietness and calmness of the camino.