Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro: 29 °C, hot, sunny, and a little unstable.
IT IS THE JOURNEY, NOT THE DESTINATION!!!
The journey is more important than the destination. Sometimes the destination changes, but the journey remains the same. It is what we have.
Without it, we have nothing. When we overly focus on reaching the destination, we overlook the journey, where we learn and grow as individuals.
We can carry the lessons and experiences from the journey for a lifetime. In contrast, the destination can often be a letdown or a deception because we have placed too much emphasis on it and not enough on the journey to get there.
It is the Saturday before Carnival, and street processions are already underway, with large parts of the city blocked to traffic. Rio becomes hell during Carnival: hot and sticky, with unpleasant smells from urine, stale beer and anything else that you can imagine.
It is a military operation to cross from one neighbourhood to another, let alone the city during carnival!!!
I was up very early, and at the end of Leme, I was doing exercise before 5:30 in the morning. Imagine exercising so early on a Saturday morning with few people in the street; it is so good.
Where I exercise at the end of Leme, there is a circular, sunken skate rink surrounded by a half-meter-high, a meter-wide wall; the wall is a kind of elevated stand for people to sit, walk, and stand on.
This is where I work out, on top of the wall, in an elevated position where I can see everything around me, including the beach and the sea, only 10 metres from me. I stay on the wall nearer to the beach, whereas the dog owners stay precisely opposite me on the other side of the rink on the wall.
The dogs play inside the rink, and all around, and often, they come to visit me.
SometimesI start with skipping and then move on to TRX exercises, or vice versa. I like to do 20 to 30 minutes of skipping and at least 45 minutes for a complete workout. I have been going there every morning for more than a year, so I have got to know the regulars.
People like me are always there for a reason. If not for the dogs, it is for exercise, yoga, fishing, or just walking every morning before the Orla starts to get full.
After the workout and checking my phone, I change my trainers to flip-flops and walk back, usually passing first by a buteo near the beach to buy mineral water and nearer home to pass by the Portuguese bakers to drink at least one coffee outside, watching the world go by; it is Saturday, there are no classes, so there is no rush.
The Portuguese bakers are not the most sophisticated in Copacabana. The truth is that it is a bit tatty and not the cleanest. The service makes the difference; the people who work there are incredibly kind and helpful, creating a world of difference.
When I got home at about 11 a.m., Yasmin was up. We had arranged to play chess the night before, the best of three. It wasn’t necessarily a third game; Yasmin beat me two-nil. She played very well, and I was a little distracted.
Later in the afternoon, I took Yasmin back to her mother’s, where I talked to her about the possibility of living there before travelling to England. Nalva understood and was very receptive to the idea.
When I returned to Copacabana, the weather changed, and I watched some videos, films, etc.
In bed by 8:30 p.m.
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Richard
