The Walking Mentorship, Day 5 Focus on the Change You Want to Become

The Walking Mentorship, Day 5 Focus on the Change You Want to Become Joo Perre Viana is the mastermind behind theWalking Mentorshipprogram, an innovative one-week experience that helps people face their personal andprofessionalchallenges while taking a120-kilometer (74.5-mile) hike alongthe Camino de Santiago.The purpose of this methodology is to help gain perspective on what is important (both personally and professionally), update ur reality maps, and create an action plan for the future, Viana says.On Sunday, August 28, Viana embarked on his latest hike.Over the curse of this week, he will be updating us daily about the jurney he and his participants are on. Read the rest of the seriespart 0,part 1,part 2,part 3, and part 4.- Ed. Note.Today, we had towalk with one less companion. Our companionstwisted ankle was leise swollen and hurt too much to allow any optimistic perspective a sad day for our group, but also a challenge to make it better.Leavin g Prado was indeed a transitional experience. After our breakfast, we moved swiftly to reach the bridge of Taboada, built in the year 912, whichcrosses the Deza river.Once we crossed to the other side, we realizedthat what still lay ahead of us was less than what we had walked already over the course of the week a powerful metaphor foronesown life and existence.Welived the first hours of the day in silence, crossing through beautiful oak and pine forests. It was a perfect setting to continue reflecting on the work we weredoing, supported by exercises that helped us recognize what really mattered in our professional and personal lives and leave behind the burdens we didnt need.We made aquick stop in Silleda for coffee. The risingtemperature promised a difficult last stretch of the day, proving once again that there are no easy days. Just because we had fewerkilometers to walk, that didnt mean we had an easier life except for one aspect Experience became a good friend, telling us wh en to stop, when to move forward, when to reach for water, and when to talk with a companion to help us keep going.While we walked thelong asphalt sections of the trail, we closed our eyes to help us dream of better futures. Sometimes, we thought strategically about how to achieve our biggest goals. Other times, we though of more mundane things like a shower and a cold beer.We passed the small village of O Foxo and continueduntil we reached Bandeira, home of another stop, where we got onemore coffee, a water refill, and a little hope from the locals who greeted us with Buen Camino (which literally means, Good path).An inspiring 200-meter descent to Codeseira, Pieiro, and Castrovite announced the last stretch of the day. On the long straight road, we tried to keep ourselves from overheating. We passed through one more dense oak forest, and then we saw the cute little village of Dornelas and its beautiful church, our home for the day.What is home? was one of the key questions we face d in our early days. No matter ourindividual answers to the question, we all knew that once we found home, we could rest. Thats exactly what we did at Casa Leiras, a private Albergue (hostel) run by an Italian family of pilgrims who traded their hometown for a new future here. Because of that, they are able to continuously change the lives of the people who are blessed by their hospitality.We hadour showers and cold beersthatafternoon, but then it was back to our internal work. We learnedthat it isnot so easy to identify priorities and make them tangible. After all We are getting closer to Santiago, and if we do not use our time wisely, it can become an enemy.Reunited with our injured friend, we spent a marvelous evening telling and listening to stories, formulating the key dimensions of our personal and professional livesthat will enable us to seizeopportunities for our future selves,Everything is important, but not equally important. Today, we had to decide, focus, and progress by identifying the milestones and opportunities that would support our evolutions from our current states toour future goals.After a one-of-a-kind Italian dinner, we took a night walk in small groups to stretch our muscles a bit. Without a single light, it took a while for our eyes to adjust to the dark world. We also let our minds adjust to the thoughts that weigh us down more than our own backpacks do.We dont have answers to many of thekey questions in life, but if we are brave enough to dare to continuewalking despite this lack of visibility, well find that there are signsall around to guide us.Tired but extremely happy, we returned to our home for the night.Just before crossing the doorway, I looked up into the sky and once again felt amazed by the cosmos above my head, amplified in its own darkness by the absence of the moon.It made meremember an old quoteWhen everything seems dark, consider you might be the light.Tomorrow, we walk again.Ultreia et Suseia,JoaoPhotos ofDay 5Joo Pe rre Viana foundedtheWalking Mentorshipprogram.