Hey Reader,

A story for you today. I live up a lane, kind of at the bottom between two of the Howgill Fells - Winder & Crook. This means I'm lucky to have a lot of beautiful walks on the doorstep. As I've lived here for years now, the kids are older, I've had more and more chance to explore the routes.

A few months ago, I noticed on a map that there was some sort of footpath a bit higher up - not into the fells, but somewhere higher than the house and just below the fell wall of Crook.

I've been wanting to walk that path since then. But it was not very clear on the map. I figured for my first go, I should take someone else with me - because it's that support, confidence to make things happen.

But it got to a point the last few days, where I got a message that this walk was very much like Wild Rose Path. I know where the path starts, I've got an idea where it comes out at - but no bloody clue where I'm going in the middle.

And thats been putting me off just going. Just starting.

But today, I did start. I committed to just showing up, making a start, doing this without approval or validation that there even is an actual path between the two points...

...And it turned out to be a beautiful walk. Granted, there were points where I was not sure where I was actually going, if there was a stile, if I should actually be going through this farm...

...But it was OK. It was all OK. And the uncertainty of starting when I didn't know where I was going was something I'm really glad I overcame.

Of course, every walk has gifts, signs if you're open to them. This one I found 2 sheep's shoulder bones along the part of the route I was most unsure about. That I took as a sign to keep going, that I was on the right path.

Then I became more confident about the path when I found this actual path, lined with my ally Hawthorn...

But what struck me the most was what happened at the end. Leaving the farmyard takes you down a track, which I know goes down the hill and has a footpath coming off it that leads home. As I went down the track, I noticed two people in one of the fields, wandering around looking a bit lost, and I think seeing me go onto the footpath showed them where the route was.

It then occurred to me that we're all walking round a little lost, to some degree. And sometime, we believe we're not capable of making a change, or starting something new, or following that path that's calling to us.

But if we can believe in ourselves enough to start, to walk with whatever faith looks like for us, even when we feel like a complete imposter, we might just be able to help someone else find their path.

Big love,
Sarah