I walked the Camino de Santiago twice, but even on the Camino I found it difficult not to turn each new stretch of the journey ahead of me into a task. During the first few days, everything was a task\u2026 walking, buying food, finding somewhere to stay and settling in, doing the washing\u2026 I even hurried to reach the hostel in time. On a pilgrimage!<\/p>\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lelekkapu.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/camino-2004-nagyitott.webp\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nI have to laugh when I think about it now \u2014 especially the ego-knot that tightened inside me when I arrived at the first hostel and discovered that there were another three hundred people just like me. Exactly like me: shorts, smelly hiking boots and a dusty backpack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then there was qigong practice. At first, it brought me joy and a sense of wonder at the unfamiliar sensations appearing in my body and the changes in my perception. Then practising became a task, and the joy disappeared \u2014 fortunately, only for a while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The change Tenerife brought<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Feladatorient\u00e1lts\u00e1gomnak a kegyelemd\u00f6f\u00e9st Tenerife adta meg. Ez a sziget minden napj\u00e1val \u00e9lni tan\u00edt \u2013 teljesen m\u00e1sk\u00e9pp, mint ahogy el\u0151tte tettem. Egyre jobban l\u00e1tom, ahogy a feladatok elveszik az \u00e9letkedvemet, \u00e9s ezzel azt hiszem, a helyiek is \u00edgy lehetnek. Azt l\u00e1tom, hogy az itteniek a feladataikat ink\u00e1bb olyasfajta tev\u00e9kenys\u00e9geknek tekintik, amelyek lehet\u0151s\u00e9get k\u00edn\u00e1lnak valami m\u00e1sra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the shop assistant calmly chats with the customer. The pharmacist is in no hurry. A nurse half-sings her words to me while checking my details. They seem to know perfectly well that none of us is important enough to take ourselves \u2014 or whatever we happen to be doing \u2014 quite so seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"Ma\u00f1ana\" and \"no te preocupes\" have worked their way under my skin. I am not important. And I don\u2019t need to be so important that I have to rush anywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I. Am. Not. Important.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
So perhaps I don\u2019t have to meet everyone\u2019s expectations? Could it really be enough simply to be as I am? These were the questions going around in my mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since then, whenever I notice myself beginning to treat something I need to do as a task, I stop for a moment. I watch the ego-knot begin to tighten as I once again try to prove to myself that, after all, I really am important, valuable and worthy of love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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