The Gift

  

It has been nearly six weeks since we left home and I feel a lifetime has passed as we rest our bones for a few days before beginning the process of our return. It is really not the physical rest we need although the leisurely pace we move while here and the warm sun and cool breezes upon us helps restore our physical needs. It really is the rest of my heart and soul that I am savoring now. In the quiet of these moments they are being restored  and I am able to look at things differently than when I first arrived.

It has been a year since we returned from Spain where I had been diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder with a very abrupt onset. I was told at the time a few things could happen. I could develop an acute autoimmune disease, a neoplastic disease, or it could just resolve itself. It would take about a year to know for sure and after monthly medical check ups I believe it has resolved itself without further complications. It was a hard year for me in many ways and I am just now appreciating where this year has brought me. 

There is something very freeing for me in these pilgrimages and I am still learning many things as we continue to experience life this way.  With our technology we had the ability to look ahead at both the topography and weather before we set out each day. Sometimes that knowledge was daunting and I found  it could alter the way I felt our day might go. I might worry about the degree of difficulty, the length of our walk, or how the weather might hinder us. I realized this early on and chose not to use these pieces of information to  try not to predict the outcome of each day in advance because if I dwelled on what might happen I might miss what was actually happening. And, there was such exquisite beauty all around me I did not want to miss any of it.

I am a firm believer that our day to day lives do not change much. There are the exceptional days but what changes is our perception of them. We become prisoners of our mind and thoughts and true freedom comes when we realize that each day is a gift.  We ourselves are a gift. Another day may follow but this day will not pass again. I can not dwell in what might be or what might have been, I can only move forward the very best way I can. How foolish I would be to not live and appreciate each day as if my days were numbered.

So we rest here for a bit. Savoring these moments and yet, eager to come home to you. You are the best places in my heart...