Camino de Santiago, also known as The Way of Saint James, is a pilgrimage that almost half a million pilgrims completed in 2024.1 There are more than 200 recognized routes. Camino Frances, Camino Portuguese, Camino del Norte, Camino Primitivo, and a few others are the most traveled. The word Camino is Spanish, meaning “path,” “road,” or “way.”
Originally, Christians walked the Camino for spiritual reasons. Today, it’s completed by people from different faiths and walks of life. Everyone has a personal reason for embarking on a physically tough journey that can last anywhere from a few days to over 7.5 years. The common themes kept appearing: rediscovering and strengthening one’s faith, getting to know yourself better, adventuring, giving up something, or getting clarity on next steps in life.
When I decided to walk the Camino Portuguese in October, I set the following intentions:
- To fully surrender, rediscover, and renew my relationship with God.
- To affirm what an amazing fiancée I have by my side.
- To figure out how to best serve God and others through my work.
- To mature, get to know myself better, and embrace discomfort.
- To overcome my approval addiction of caring too much about what people think of me.
During the 24-day journey, people would ask if I received answers to the questions I was asking. At first, no, but several days after my return, I realized that I am much closer. The purpose of this writing is not to focus on my journey but on the cumulative lessons learned along the Camino. Some came from pilgrims I met, some from memory, and others from personal revelations. They are called 35 Life Lessons:
- God is love. He shows Himself in the most unexpected ways. To experience our Heavenly Father fully, invite Jesus – from the heart – to walk with you in life.
- Pray specifically. Listen and look carefully. Answers we seek are all around us.
- Life is a Camino. If we do not have the answers now, they will come in due time. Sometimes in ways we least expect.
- When you can look at the man in the mirror and genuinely smile back with love, you have won the most important battle of life. Love and accept yourself first. To help others to the best of your capabilities, you need to find yourself first. “Put your oxygen mask on first.”
- Escape the noise and outside influences whenever possible. Walking the Camino helps to detach and realize what truly matters. Once our basic needs are met, everything else is unnecessary. We need little to be content.
- Purge. If you have too many things on your plate, eliminate the irrelevant. The same applies to life and the Camino. Once you complete it, you realize that only the bare essentials like food, water, and shelter are needed for a free life. When you have a little, you learn to appreciate a lot.
- Narrow your focus. Life will be more enjoyable and peaceful. Aimlessly drifting through life is a hard place to be in. Humans need a destination.
- Life is about choices. We have been gifted with the greatest treasure of all, our free will.
- Whether you feel you succeeded or not, it is never too late to start over. We glorify God just as much as a janitor or as someone at the top. How we love others, through our way of living, is the most important.
- Listen to your heart and discover your blue flame. The flame in our hearts needs to burn the hottest. Only then can we experience the fullness of life God designed us to live.
- Take the narrow road in life. Do not follow what everyone else is doing. Learn how to think for yourself. As difficult as it may be to be different, be different!
- Slow down and take your time in life. Approach it with “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast, quick will get you killed” mentality used by the US Navy SEALs.
- There is power in saying no. Respect yourself and guard your time. It is the most precious aspect of our lives. We can make more money, but we cannot make more time.
- Focus on today. The past is yesterday, the future is tomorrow. Now is the most important moment.
- Always operate with the mindset of “why not now?”. Do not wait. Whatever you can do now, do not leave it for tomorrow. You may not have a second chance.
- However, sleep on every important decision. A fresh outlook the following day may reveal something you missed.
- Stick to your word. If you promise, deliver! The worst is to lie to yourself.
- Be bold. Do not avoid someone for the sake of fear; face the issue. Be rigorously honest with the other person.
- Do not seek validation from others or care what people may think. Most of the time, people are focused on themselves. You are not as important as you think.
- Do not judge the book by its cover. Don’t make quick assumptions about the other person. They can be deadly.
- If you lead a team, delegate, and always be responsible for the outcome.
- The questions you ask the other person, or the flaws you point out in them, are a mirror reflection of you. The problems you find in others are problems you have with yourself.
- Be vulnerable. Tell the other person you love them first. You may not have a second chance.
- Do not force anything. Sometimes it is okay to leave it if you feel like it. Say no if it’s at the cost of your mental peace.
- You’re capable of more than you realize. However difficult the task may be, persist. It gets easier as you get stronger. Permanent pain is greater than temporary pain.
- It’s better to give than to receive. If you are invited somewhere, never come empty-handed.
- Treat everyone the way you want to be treated, plus a little better. Leave the person or a situation better than you found it.
- First get the horse, then get the carriage. Do not worry about what choice you will make if making that choice is not an option yet.
- Do not wait until you “find” your purpose. Be present and trust the process. Live your purpose now.
- Wisdom is staying silent. Speak a little, say a lot. Don’t complain. When you do, you give away your power to someone else.
- It takes a brave person to lead, so lead! If you succeed, you are brave. If you do not, keep trying. Don’t give up.
- Do not act on impulse. Think it through, then think it through again.
- Less is more. Choose quality over quantity. A few friends, items, etc., are better than many
of lesser quality. - If you work for yourself, you will not have a ceiling. If you work for someone else, you
always will. - Go all in. Don’t half ass anything. Whatever you choose to do, do it with all your heart.
