I was on one of my early Camino de Santiago training walks, step by step along a road that followed the coastline from the old town in Zadar, Croatia, when I came to a fork in the road. I’ve been down this road before as it is a fairly long a pretty regular walking route for me, not to mention there aren’t that many other options in Zadar. Take a left and stay on the road above the beach and keep heading south on the street and sidewalk toward the southern point of the pier on the Adriatic. Or, take a right and head down to the beach where there is some sidewalk and established path for a bit before heading back up a couple very small switchbacks to the same street I was currently on.
Without even thinking, I stayed high. I immediately calculate that going down would just take time and effort and ultimately result in me being in the same place only a few minutes later than if I keep true. Here’s the thing, though. I’m out for a walk. I have no time frame, no real destination, no schedule, nor any real reason for being out beyond putting miles on my feet and pumping blood through my heart and muscles.
So, why did I stay high. Why did I choose sidewalk and some light traffic instead of a little beach. Yeah, I would be in the same place in only like 20 minutes, and I would have to take a hill that is really not even steep enough or long enough to warrant discussion.
But, I did. And it got me to wondering: Are we conditioned to always seek the path of least resistance?
Like I said, I had no schedule. Yet, if I took the beach path, my walk would take longer – maybe 10.2k versus the planned 10k. I would have to exert just a tad more energy and double back on a road for like 100 meters. So, again, why did I choose the sidewalk?
The only thing I can imagine is that we are hard wired from early childhood to always take the path of least resistance, the shortest distance needed to get wherever we are going…even if it is nowhere. We take the extra steps in some aspects of life…cook when we could order out, research when we could just ask someone, really any kind of exercise, ride a bike when we can drive, or even date when we have access to all kinds of free porn.
It seems we never have a problem with the difficult if we are aware of some perceived benefit. But what if we don’t? Can’t we still just decide to do it?
I want to be a person that, for no reason at all, will sometimes take the harder path without there needing to be a benefit. I want to seek the longer path. But, what’s maybe more important is I want to consciously brake the conditioning that makes me always take the easier way, the path of least resistance, simply by default. I want to think about it. I want to at least consider taking the harder path sometimes without it feeling like I’m breaking some hard wired rule.
After all, isn’t that what the Camino is? Really, it’s intentionally taking the harder and longer path. Hell, I even have to take trains, busses, and go through a whole shitload of things just to get to do it. But even in this, there are cheats for those interested or conditioned to take the easier path. Short cuts, bag services, roads that bypass hills, starting points closer to the finish. Whatever. I guess I’ll have to wait to see if I can decide to take the harder path sometimes.
