There is such a feeling of celebration in this old city. The central plaza in front of the spectacular cathedral hosts a constantly changing collection of jubilant pilgrims, welcoming and congratulating each other. There is no where else to walk to: we have all "arrived"!
As it happens, over the course of the evening I randomly met up with various familiar pilgrim friends and ultimately about 15 of us congregated in a noisy back room of a local eatery to toast and eat and laugh about our experiences along the Camino. (Someone should make a movie about this...).
Of course it's just perfect that somehow in a foreign city in the rain, we managed to find each other... Our motley crew wandered the streets, stopped for cocktails and tapas and generally delayed our goodbyes as long as we could. We've all said goodbye to each other dozens of times along the Camino, but this time we knew we'd never see each other again. Each was heading to their respective homes in distant locations all over the world. For a little while we all shared something very powerful together, and we are all better for it. The goodbyes are bittersweet.
This morning I had the delicious pleasure of not rushing out in the cold at 7:00 am to walk for several hours...ahhhhhhh.... What a marvellous feeling!
Even though i was Calm and centred, i watched my thoughts move towards who i wanted to meet with today and where i should sleep tonight. I would like to think I'm over that powerful need to jockey for the right social position, but apparently not.
However, this morning my response to my thoughts was a little different. It's somehow lighter - I still have negative thoughts, but they don't control my feelings or behaviour. I can recognize them, laugh at myself and choose to discard them for more suitable thoughts. I can laugh at my concerns and trust that everything's going to be perfect no matter what happens today. Not only can i learn to accept external events, but perhaps more importantly, i can also learn to accept my own unfavourable thoughts, feelings and behaviours. I can learn not to judge myself so harshly. That's kinda sweet. When I simply accept my less than perfect thoughts as perfectly human, I feel lighter and happier. And suddenly absolutely nothing is wrong in my world. It is perfect no matter which path I choose. Cool!
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