If You Wanna Grow, You Can Either Walk 500 Miles...Or Read This.

Have you ever heard of the Camino de Santiago?

I hadn’t either until I saw the documentary, Walking the Camino, this past week.

Walking the Camino follows six strangers as they walk the 500-mile pilgrimage across Spain known as…wait for it…the Camino de Santiago.

People walk the Camino, often with just a backpack and a pair of boots, many miles each day, going from hostel to hostel, until they reach Santiago.

It sounds like a really neat journey…

Or, at least it did before I watched the movie. Seriously, I was like, “Sign me up!”

But the minute I saw the scene showing 20 or so people sleeping in the same room…no, make that snoring in the same room, I thought…

Hmm, maybe this isn’t really for me after all.

Just because we don’t live an experience directly doesn’t mean we can’t learn from it vicariously…

But the great thing about the movie is that it enables me – and you – to learn some of the Camino’s lessons without the trekking, the blisters and, perhaps most importantly, the snoring!

Lessons like these…

: | Change is a constant – embrace it.

One individual the documentary follows is Wayne, 65, a recent widower who walks the Camino to honor his wife. A path where no two minutes, hours or days are the same, the Camino challenges Wayne, like his wife’s sudden passing did, to accept that change is a constant in life – and that he could either embrace the changes of the Camino or fight them the whole way through.

Just like Wayne learns to get comfortable with change, so too must we. It’s a lot like facing fear, actually.

We must face change head-on, even if we maneuver it a bit clumsily. For, pretty soon, as we navigate change after change, clumsiness turns into resilience – something that helps us weather any storm.

Bottom line?

The more comfortable we get with change, the more we’re able to appreciate its lessons rather than its difficulties. (<– Click To Tweet This!)

: | When it comes to happiness, make sure you’re looking in the right place.

One of the more powerful lessons offered in the movie comes by way of Sam, a 30-something Brazilian woman who, before walking the Camino, lost her job, her boyfriend and her apartment.

One day, while walking the Camino with this older gentleman, Sam expresses her unhappiness to this man, telling him that she had nothing, that she didn’t know what the future held and was scared about it.

If you’ve ever felt (or continue to feel) this way to some degree or another in your own life, read carefully this man’s wise response, which is…

But you have nothing here on the Camino, and you are happy. Happiness lies inside of you – not out there.

Powerful, right? How many of us are looking outside for our happiness? Or are relying on externals to make us feel as if we’re enough? My guess is, Sam is not alone here.

It’s easy to do. But when it comes to happiness, make sure you’re looking in the right place – inside.

: | There’s only one right way to live your life – your way.

This last lesson comes from Annie, who traveled all the way from Los Angeles to walk the Camino. Annie battled both physical health issues and a competitive spirit – and, at first, her competitive spirit was winning.

Pressuring herself to keep up with the other walkers, Annie felt terribly distraught when her physical limitations prevented her from doing so. Until she realized that she needed to stop comparing herself to others and to give herself permission to go at her own pace.

Don’t we all need to do that in life? As the film conveys, there is not just one single right way to do the Camino nor is there just one way to live life.

Remember, there’s only one right way to live your life – your way. (<– Click To Tweet This!)

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I hope you’ll go see the movie. Even though I’ve shared some of the lessons learned, I’ve really just scratched the surface of what it’s like for these six strangers to walk the Camino.

At the very least, I hope, as always, that these lessons from the Camino help you grow.

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Know someone else who needs to grow a little (and would prefer to read this rather than walk 500 miles!)? Please share this post with them by using one of the share buttons at the top or bottom of this post, or emailing them this URL: http://beyourselfandtherestwillfollow.com/walking-the-camino/

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To growing,