My Walk on El Camino de Santiago: Have a Mentor

“If I have seen further than others, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
- Isaac Newton

On my walk on El Camino I made a lot of rookie mistakes. I didn’t train ahead of time, I didn’t have some of the equipment that would have made it smoother for me, and I didn’t understand what the trek would actually entail.

What I did have was a mentor.

I met Jennifer while on the Camino and she was my angel on that walk. When I got discouraged, she bolstered me. When I started complaining about the pain in my feet (and legs, and back, and…), she told me I would make it. Jennifer walked backward on the road, facing me so she could keep going and give me the boost I needed at the same time. She was incredible. I had the good fortune that Jennifer showed interest in my success and helped me to make the very best of our walk.

I have been lucky to have had other mentors in my life as well. Because of their experience and vantage point, I have been gifted intangible resources and vital tools that would not have been as available or accessible to me without their help.

Mentors motivate you. They coach you. They challenge and protect you. They assume your vision until it is a reality. Jennifer was walking the same path as me, and we were both working for the same goal: growth.

I don't know if I will ever be able to thank her properly, but I hope that Jennifer knows that her believing in my potential and caring about my success entirely changed my experience on the Camino and I am very grateful.