Only two more days until we leave to walk the Camino Frances a third time.  I notice that I’m highly aware of every ache, pain, and twinge that my body is feeling.  And I get concerned.  I’ve seen my share of injured pilgrims along the Camino, many of them younger and in better shape than me.  I awaken in the night and often think, “Can I really do this again?”  Then I remember the story of The Little Engine That Could.

A few weeks ago I was at one of my daughter’s home and I got to put her two year old to bed.  I love the cuddle and story at the end of the day.  As I put him in the bed he reached for a book for me to read, The Little Engine That Could.  Great!  A story I need to read for myself and he loves this story.  However a few pages in I realized that this was not the story I remember as a child.

This Little Engine breaks down at the base of a large hill.  The train is loaded with toys to be delivered to children on the other side of the hill.  So the toys go out looking for another train to pull them up and over the hill.  The first train is a passenger train and cannot stoop to pulling a cargo train up a hill.  The second train is carrying cargo more necessary than toys and therefore is too important for such a task.  The third train is too old and weak to help.  Finally another little train comes along and agrees to try and pull the broken train up and over the hill.

All the way up this train keeps saying, “I think I can. I think I can.”  When she reaches the top and goes over she happily sings, “I knew I could! I knew I could!”  The End

The story I knew as a child was all about the original Little Engine.  She chugs up the hill saying, “I think I can. I think I can.”  Three times she just can’t quite reach the top.  But then a change of attitude comes about.  The Little Engine adopts the attitude of “I know I can. I know I can.”  And while the trek up the hill is difficult, she makes it.

Now there is something to be said about asking for help when you need it.  But if that help doesn’t come you might have to rely on your own strength and cleverness.  

Yes those little aches and pains are scary. And yes I’ve met many pilgrims who’ve been injured and unable to complete the Camino.  And…I’ve done this twice before.  I’ve put in the training and praying and now it’s time to say, “I know I can! I know I can!”

Buen Camino

One day I decided to go for a walk…