Rule #5: Keep a Daily List of Accomplishments
"The brain registers small goals the same as large ones. If you fail at a big goal, you can easily trigger the release of stress chemicals, whereas every small accomplishment releases dopamine and inspires you to achieve more success.
"But you have to deliberately become conscious of them! At the end of the day, write down all your small accomplishments and then take 2-3 minutes to savor them. Research shows that if you do this for just one week your self-esteem will continue to grow over the next 3 months!"
I thought of how each day of walking this Camino achieved a conscious measurable goal for me, which I then recorded on my blog, just to make it more conscious! And I did feel like my self esteem had gone up on this trip.
I had embarked on my Camino, hoping to hear what my next steps should be, and to trust my knowing. Over those 21 days (and yes, also on the travel days before and after), I had received many confirmations that I could trust myself to choose my own path, and also received several big hints about which direction that would be, along with fairly explicit instructions about how it could all be done.
I noticed that several times, I started on a more traditional, well-traveled, predictable path, and ended up choosing my own unique path, and how well that worked for me.
I noticed that several times I wanted closure through the form of symmetry (eg mass at the start and end), but nearly every time, I was guided to not return to where I started, but to head off in a new direction.
One major exception was Sophie, with whom I felt I got my circular closure by seeing her again in Santiago the day we left. It felt right that we started and finished our Camino together. However, even with that, there was a non-circular element, as we each walked into the city, Cathedral, mass, and Compostela office alone. I had imagined us walking in together, sharing that moment, and yet, it still felt somehow "right" to complete our journeys alone. We had so much in common, yet still, each of our journeys were unique, and in the end, we were the only ones who could walk them.
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A last word on gear:
Things I never used
(* means I would still take them again):
- extra batteries for my BOSE noise-cancellation headphones (I only used them on travel days)
- earbuds
- Tyvex sitting mats (it was either actually raining or dry, never in between)
- plastic page cover (didn't use paper maps outdoors, used the Tyvex envelope to protect papers in my bag)
- poncho (never rained that hard; used my umbrella and pack cover instead)
- can opener (all cans had pop/peel tops)
- bottle opener (most supermarket drinks were in cans)
- diomacious earth and bedpost lids for bedbugs (I did use the pyrethrin spray)
- 3-in-1 camp soap (after the first couple tries)
- * extra contact lenses
- * Sawyer straw (although there were opportunities)
- * any first aid stuff (hurray!!!), except for muscle cream and Advil
- (*?) emergency space blanket
No wait, I DID use a bandaid...
Things I thought were totally indispensable:
- the right socks and shoes!
- sunscreen
- bug spray
- tights (mostly for ticks)
- pashmina
- cell phone (esp for: camera, offline maps)
- cell phone power bank
- two-pronged usb charger and euro adapter
- ultra lightweight umbrella (for sun more than rain!)
- duct tape
- 4 underwear (not 2)
- 3 tops (not 2)
- string (for clothesline)
- safety pins
- ziploc bags to organize my stuff
- water bottle
- mini hotel bar soap (for laundry and self)
- tiny ziploc for coins
- small cross-body purse (so I didn't have to take off my pack each time I wanted something!)
- little travel pack of Kleenex
Things I thought I would really need, but turns out I could probably have done without:
- bra
- mesh drying bag (clothes didn't dry in it; ended up using it to sort clean clothes)
- extra batteries
- more than a couple tampons (could have bought my brand there, in the bigger towns)
- shampoo/soap (most hotels had some, and I nicked a small bar for the few that didn't)
- sunglasses
- actual camera (although I did get some nice bird shots on it)
- most snacks from home (exception: peanut butter ginger chews!)
- Spanish SIM card?? (I really liked the security of having access to other people while on the trail, especially for emergencies, even though I didn't use it much; most hotels and bars had wifi, even if sometimes it was poor)
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