Coincidences

Right after I wrote my blog last night I started thinking about the coincidences that led to me being on this trip. It's amazing to think that I wasn't sure if I was going to go all the way to Flateyri (8 hour drive) to my friends birthday party but I'm so glad, for so many reasons, that I decided to go. I wouldn't be here if I hadn't gone, that's for sure. If it wasn't for Andri being there and me getting a lift in the same car as him then I wouldn't even know about the Camino.

This taught me 2 important lessons. The first one being to grab all the opportunities for adventures that are presented to me. We left on a Saturday, rode in a car for 8 hours, celebrated Atli's birthday in Flateyri, woke up the next day and rode in the car back to Reykjavík for another 8 hours. It was an amazing adventure and I almost missed out on it because I thought it could have been too much of an hassle. I went and had the time of my life, found out about the Camino to Santiago de Compostela and here I am on this life changing journey. The second lesson was to grab the "coincidences" that life offers you. The big coincidence was that Andri was there and that he talked about going the Camino and voila => here I am. But if I hadn't grabbed the idea and made it a reality I know I would have regretted it the rest of my life. Sometimes I've had these "coincidences" happen to me, I know that I should do something/go somewhere/meet someone or somthing like that but I don't follow through. It is a terrible thing to waste these beautiful opportunities, guidances if you will, that life offers you. A coincidence to me is a spiritual thing, it is the magic of life helping you find what you truly want...and very often what you truly need!

Last night was great and Antonello must have had another great night since everyone was yet again kept awake by his awesome snoring! :) I on the other hand wasn't in their room, having arrived before them, and would of course have slept fine despite the snoring thanks to my earplugs. This morning the others left as I was about to pray and meditate, I was going to catch up as soon as I was done. But that wasn't as easy as I had hoped. Walking with tendonitis on the shin is actually quite painful and I can't walk very fast. I felt grounded or at least like someone had slowed me down to a crawl. I can walk pretty fast and catching up to the group has always been very easy for me. But not now!

I started to think about what this could teach me. I saw that I was very impatient with myself and that I didn't tolerate failure well. This for me was failure and I had promised Alexander to catch up quickly so that we could walk together. I felt rushed and I felt that my slow walking was like breaking a promise. All of the sudden I was glad that this had happened. I could see that often when I was walking the Camino I was rushing for one reason or another and the same could be said for my life. I miss out on life and the Camino when I do this, too busy trying to get where I'm going to enjoy what's happening right now in my life. I saw that I had been grounded for a reason, the Camino had taught me another lesson. Enjoy the journey my friend, enjoy the moment, be present, take a look around and enjoy the scenery.

I caught up with them in a small Bar (that's where Spaniards go for food) about 12:40 in Villafranca Montes de Oca. We had a great lunch and after getting some juice we headed up the steep steep steep hills that would lead us to San Juan de Ortega, our destination for the day. The 24,3 km journey was amazing and I'm glad that I got to talk to Anaise some more and really get to know her. She'll be leaving soon like so many of our little Camino famly have done before her.

The computers here are not really up to par. After about 20 minutes of trying to access my facebook account and my internet bank I had closed myself off from my facebook account and I couldn't pay any bills. I swear the pain in dealing with the computer was worse than the pain of walking today and that was bad enough! But luckily I found away to access my blog and even though I won't be able to post my blogpost on facebook, I at least found a way to post a blog. ;)

Going to get back to my friends now beautiful people. I hope you are experiencing amazing coincidences in your life and that you truly seize them when they happen! And don't forget the journey on your way to your destinations! ;)