Day 40 - Last Day!
The journey of exploring 40 ks for 40 Days has finally come to a natural sense of closure. On this final day, it is certainly all making a lot more sense to me than on day one when it felt like there was a long road ahead and so many questions, topics, and areas of inner and outer peace to explore, while moving my body, my mind and challenging my perspectives.
Instead of finishing this final day by cycling, I integrated a celebration of friendship, solidarity, connection with one another, and nature and hope, that I was invited to.
I joined a very special wedding celebration back in the garden county of Ireland between two very close friends of ours who decided to bring movement and nature into their day. We walked 20k together along a spectacular and historic route and shared stories, optimism, energy, and hope.
It felt completely appropriate and like a perfect way to round off this challenge while thinking about interdependence, systems, community, and ways to look to nature, to ancient wisdom for assistance, guidance, and ways to bring more peace into our lives from inside out and outside in.
Do I feel like I've answered all my questions and curiosities about peace during my 40- day challenge? No.
I feel the need to keep moving and keep exploring, but I also feel very grateful to have gone on this journey and for the assistance of those around me to allow me the space and support to do this. First, my family, who have given me space to get out each day and move my 40ks for 40 days, then my team at the Charter for Compassion, who have been fantastic and encouraging and great at following me around and posting my blogs and finally, for the inspiration and guidance to all the people that have been involved in my 20 years plus, exploration of peace.
I should also point out that a lot of the resources for days 30-38 have come from a program that I am a facilitator of called Compassion Integrity Training or CIT, and I am thankful to have been able to use this program to learn and connect with so many people over the past 5 years.
Shane O'Connor
