So you thought 2020 was bad? Welcome to 2021. The new year has certainly started with a blast. The Covid numbers are rising faster than the Qatari skyline. Here in Ireland we’ve had more cases in the first few weeks of January than in the entire first wave. With the whole country on lockdown again and our hospitals overflowing things look as bleak as ever. In America, a deeply fractured nation became even more radicalised when a defiant President Trump provoked a mob to storm Capitol Hill and desecrate the hallowed halls of their democracy. It was a shocking and shameful scene, demonstrative of the anger and division that is currently plaguing their country. Perhaps order and hope will be restored when that youthful, virile Joe Biden takes office. And then there’s Brexit, a slumping international economy, rising unemployment, and if you want to look further down the road the spectre of global warming hasn’t gone away either. All ingredients for a very happy new year indeed.
We normally start January with resolutions and plans to change our lives, relationships, health and finances, and transform ourselves into the best possible people we can become. The calamities of 2020 may have led many people to abandon their grand schemes for self improvement, while others embraced the cycle of lockdowns to work on those projects that they’d been putting off forever. Now more that ever we need to be optimistic about the future, so we should take advantage of the current January gloom and millenarian doom and use it for our own benefit.
For the pilgrim, it’s always January 1st. They live in a constant state of becoming. They are continuously moving towards a destination, and they have to shape and mould their habits and behaviours to get there. Completing the Camino de Santiago takes about one million steps, each of which is as important as the last, and the effort involved in walking such an odyssey takes a lot of physical and mental preparation. If we see the new year as such a journey, with the promise of better times being our destination, then we must begin by adopting the habits, routines and mindsets that will enable us to cross the choppy waters of the turbulent year ahead.
1. TAKE ONE DAY AT A TIME
It’s the first of January and you’ve decided for 2021 you’re going to cut down on your drinking, stop smoking, get fit, eat healthily, lose weight and save money. By January 3rd you’ve concluded that the you on January 1st was an idiot. January 1st you wasn’t stupid of course. They’d just bitten off more than they could chew. Of course biting off more than you can chew is not necessarily a good idea if you want to lose those Christmas kilos, but there are more sensible ways to achieve your aims rather than diving in head first and soon after becoming dispirited.
Set yourself realistic targets that can be achieved incrementally. Pick one goal at a time. If you want to cut down on your drinking, you may succeed by going cold turkey but it might be better to reduce you intake by one drink at a time, or set one or two or days a week when you don’t have any alcohol. Alternatively, try Dry January, but take each day as it comes. If you want to get fit don’t set out to run a mini marathon the first day. Take baby steps instead. If you want to walk the Camino, start off by going for a short walk you’re sure you can complete. Then lengthen the distances over time. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but the cumulative effort of many small steps will take you a very long way indeed.
2. BUILD SMALL HABITS
How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice. Practice. Practice. If you do the same things every day, be they positive or negative, you will feel the results as the weeks and months pass by. So aim to do things that will improve your quality of life, like getting up at the same time everyday, eating a healthy breakfast, drinking water with your meals, and spending 30 minutes reading or walking or doing something productive that you enjoy. Work on those habits everyday, levelling up when you need more of a challenge, and before you know it they will become second nature. Habits shape not just our behaviour but our mindset and our character. By cultivating the right small habits you’ll start to recognise how your bigger goals are now much more attainable, and you’ll have the right resources to help you on your journey. Willpower is a muscle. It can be increased by exercising it. Just remember to go at a sensible pace.
3. WHAT GETS IN THE WAY BECOMES THE WAY
Whatever your resolutions may be, the road ahead will be long and is certain to be bumpy. There will be days when you won’t achieve what you’d like, or when life or circumstances just get in the way. You might occasionally fall off the wagon and feel like giving up. No matter what happens, it’s important to carry on when you feel like quitting, even if you only carry on a little bit. By facing adversity and obstacles head on you develop your tenacity and resilience. These travelling companions will see you through those tough days when we all need a little bit of help.
On the road to Santiago, or the road of life, the Universe will throw a lot of unexpected surprises at us: we may have to walk another 10 KM to find a place to spend the night because the hostel in the first town is closed, it starts to rain horrifically on the day our boots start to leak, or a guy in the dorm snores with the intensity of rhinoceros in heat and keeps everyone awake. The cavalry is not going to come and rescue you when things get tough. Sometimes you may need to go back to the drawing board and start again, but whatever occurs you have to get around the obstacle in your path and not let them block your progress.
4. EMBRACE UNCERTAINTY
The political trials and tribulations of the last few years have created some of the strangest and most volatile times in living memory. And then a pandemic was thrown into the mix to add a little more colour. It’s easy to despair when it seems like things are out of control, but don’t. Focus on what is in your power to control, and adapt, adjust, or simply accept what isn’t. But you can also go one step further and recognise the possibilities for change, growth and innovation that occur when our normal ways of living become interrupted.
The pandemic has already forced many of us to adapt to working at home, holding meetings and socialising on Zoom, and finding more ways to keep occupied when we’re confined to our houses and our neighbourhoods. Not only have many managed, they have embraced the new normal to develop skills, take up hobbies or simply see the world through a new pair of eyes. When you have to deviate from your chosen path it can lead to feelings of great anxiety, but discovering a new path or getting back to your original one can open up many avenues of opportunity and insight you might not have otherwise encountered.
5. MAKE DO WITH WHAT YOU HAVE
The pandemic may have put an end to spontaneous shopping sprees, and forced us to reassess what we have and what we need. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. The unrelenting accumulation of more stuff can often become all consuming, and we rarely use half the things we buy. This year, try and focus only what’s essential. Try to survive with what you’ve already have. Wait a period of time before making a big purchase to see if you really need it. Go window shopping on the internet but don’t spend anything. The money you’ll save will really add up.
At the beginning of their journey the pilgrim must ruthlessly decide what they can and cannot bring with them. There is only so much space in their backpack, and whatever they pack they have to carry with them for weeks. Only the bare necessities can make the final cut, and they survive just fine with what they have. By applying the same principle to our regular lives we can all become far less burdened not just with stuff but the time and energy employed in its pursuit. Becoming less encumbered will be a good way to travel through 2021.
6. DON'T BE AFRAID TO BE DIFFERENT
Whatever others have planned for 2021, be sure you stay true to your own vision. If some people want to use the new year as an impetus to get marathon fit and you want to spend your time working on your circus skills, so be it. You only live one, so you must decide for yourself what you want to do with your time. The lockdown has given many of us a lot more time to develop our own potential, listen to our inner voices (or critics) and reassess our priorities. Pilgrimages gives people similar amounts of time and space to reflect on who they are and where they want to go. Use the new year to focus on what it is that you really want, and then make plans to get to where you want to be.
7. THINK BIG
Don’t be afraid to be ambitious in the new year. Is it time for you to quit your job and start a new business? Go for it. Do you want to change careers and retrain for a new profession? Don’t wait until tomorrow to do it, for tomorrow never comes. There is no time to act like the present, because there never is any time other than the present. January can act like a milestone for many in their quest for change, but anytime is a good time to start anew.
The Camino is an ambitious undertaking for those who sign up to do it. Weeks or even months of walking long distances, living in Spartan conditions with limited creature comforts, while subject to the whims of weather and the demands on the body, is a substantial challenge for any person. Yet people do it not because it is going to be easy but because it will push them in ways they may need to be pushed to places they need to get to. They will be transformed by the process in ways both small and subtle, and big and dramatic. Your own plans for bigger things will force you to make many sacrifices, but the long term gains will far outweigh the hardships you had to endure along the way.
8. STAY FOCUSED ON THE DESTINATION
At the beginning of the year it may seem as if your goals may be a long way off, and the work that you have to do to get there will take you forever. That may be so. Don’t lose sight of where it is you are trying to get to. If you want to learn to play Rachmaninov’s notorious 3rd piano concerto you first have to be able to play ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’, but build up your repertoire day to by day, knowing that you’re always inching closer to your destination. Keep some visual reminder of your ultimate goal near at hand to stay motivated and focused.
The road to Santiago is long, and can often be laborious. Fatigue, muscle pains, blisters and boredom will slow down any pilgrim. But every day, every hour, and every step will get them nearer to the great city. Intermittent sign posts will indicate the distance. The pilgrim may have progressed a few kilometres or just a few metres since the last one, but they have progressed nonetheless. Wherever you are planning to get to this year, as long as you are moving in the right direction you’ll be getting better all the time.
9. THE JOURNEY IS THE DESTINATION
While we can never afford to lose sight of what we are trying to achieve, we must always be mindful that it is on the journey where we will learn our skills, build our character and enjoy our most memorable experiences. The ultimate destination of life is death, but it would be a terrible waste if we spent all our days just getting ready to fit into a coffin. We have to fully experience living in the now.
Reaching Santiago produces a flourish of joy, as all the steps taken in crossing Spain’s wild and wonderful terrain have ultimately brought the pilgrim to this beautiful sacred metropolis. But Santiago is also where we say goodbye to all the friends we have made along the way. It is the experiences that we shared with those people, the fun, the laughter, the tears and the dramas, that are the most lasting legacy of the Camino. Savour each step of the new year. Cherish each moment. Learn from the highs and the lows. Enjoy the twists and turns of the road you travel, and the progress and setbacks you’ll encounter along the way.
10. GO FOR A WALK
It’s one of the easiest forms of exercise in the world, perfect for clearing the mind, gathering one’s thoughts, gaining perspective and getting fit. So many great thinkers throughout history tackled their problems by going for a walk. If you nurture one habit for 2021 let it be taking a daily constitutional. Get near nature or water if it’s within reach (and within lockdown limits), or if not go for a stroll through an urban landscape and watch the rest of the world pass by.
The Camino is ultimately nothing more than a very long walk, but one that aims to take us out of our heads and into our bodies so we can develop a greater sense of where we are and what surrounds us. You don’t have to be in Spain to walk the Camino. It can be done on the street where you live or in the local park, as long as you invest each step with intention and gratitude. The benefits of walking are immense, while the costs are minimal. So put on those walking shoes and get those legs moving. Your physical, mental and spiritual well being will improve dramatically as a result.
Following Covid’s decimation of 2020, the new year promises new beginnings for the whole world. It’s had a rough start, and times ahead will still be rocky, but a new and hopefully better world will ultimately be created when this pandemic is over. So decide what ways you need to change or better yourself, make out a plan, and get cracking. Stay the course whenever you feel overwhelmed. Build slow and steady progress, and you’ll reach the year’s end with a good new skill, or without a bad habit, and have cultivated a new mindset which will make you and your world a more positive place.
Happy new year and buen camino.