Today was a long, tough day on the Camino. Granted it was only Day 2, but it was still so challenging! We walked nearly 20 miles and much of it was up a huge, winding mountain.  Up, up, up, each step painful because blisters are always an issue.

On this Camino walk, my main intention is my friend Shannon’s son.  He was in a terrible skateboarding accident last week, and has suffered a life-threatening tramatic brain injury.  He needs all the prayers he can, so follow his progress here: Brian Support.

In addition to keeping my thoughts on Brian, I’m also setting daily intentions. These are usually prayers and good thoughts for family and friends. Intentions keep me grounded in my steps and focused on sending love to others.

Today, my friend Jackie (who is here with me) and I could hardly move another inch up the hill we were climbing.  As we were taking a breather and looking back into the horizon, I wrote a B in the dirt with my pole (for Brian), then the first letter of the name of the person who was my daily intention and the first letter of Jackie’s intention. I felt like this gave me the strength to keep going, as well as put things into perspective.  I may have been experiencing a bit of physical pain but I was ‘offering it up’ (as my mother would say) to others who were going through so much more than me in that moment.

This evening I was writing in my journal and looking back through old entries. I’ll do this every so often and  thought to myself “I wonder if I have anything written from last May?” I couldn’t believe when I found a post from 05/22/14, exactly one year before. I wrote it the night my school district approved me for a years leave of absence.

I wrote: “May 22, 2014- My sabbatical was approved at the board meeting tonight. I feel calm but also super nervous. I know there is no right or wrong decision, but I just hope this experience bring me the adventure I seek!! ‘The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Lao Tzu'” Then at the bottom of the page I wrote: “Slow down you move too fast. You gotta make the moment last.” Who doesn’t love Simon and Garfunkel?

It was such a gift to find this note to myself from a year ago! In some ways I’d like to go back and tell this girl not to worry about the year ahead, but in other ways the worry and anxiousness was good for her. It kept her moving forward and alert to world around her.  It encouraged her to take risks and make connections. It has given her one hell of a year!

I feel so lucky to have taken this step forward into the unknown.  Just like on the Camino; one step in front on the other, facing some hardships along the way, but mostly counting blessings.