In doing together, the way appears.

The courage to start.

At university I was offered a placement in a hotel. Back office. No windows. I went for the interview. Sat there. And knew I couldn't do it.

So I went home and did what felt natural. Looked in the back of my dad's walking magazines. Found an advert for an outdoor centre. Rang them up. Asked if I could come for the summer. No pay. Board and lodgings.

Said yes before I'd thought it through. My parents dropped me off. I didn't know where I was going. Didn't know a single person. I remember the first day, meeting everyone and feeling terrified.

That summer I did my mountain leader training. From that point on I knew.

I grew up in the Lake District. That landscape shaped me before I had words for it. Fells, water, weather, country folk, and freedom to roam. Riding horses. Paddling in rivers. Climbing mountains. Getting lost and finding the way back.

Adventures with uncertain outcomes.

Those experiences gave me something I can only describe as tangible. Something that engages your head, your heart and your hands all at once. You have to experience it to know.

And alongside this, nature, as a teacher.

It built in me a courage to take risks. To pick up the phone. To not know where I was going and go anyway. To get lost and know that I had the skills and confidence to find my way.

This week I've been back outside.

Working with a group of young adults. New to their workplace. New to each other. Doing a lot of things for the first time.

Scrambling. Camping. Planning their own adventures. Finding the courage to be with strangers who, by the end of the week, are friends.

I've also been alongside a staff team, friends for life. People with years of experience building the kind of relationships that help others stretch themselves. That's a privilege in itself.

There was a moment on the lake that stayed with me.

The whole group out on the water, orienteering in rowing boats. Me in the motorboat with the staff team. One of them turned and asked:

Have you always done this?

Yes. I have.

And I thought of the hotel. The back office. No windows. The magazine. The phone call. Being dropped off not knowing anyone, absolutely terrified.

Everything that followed from that one decision made without the right words for why.

I can empathise with those young people this week. I know what it is to be in that moment, strangers becoming friends, the courage to stay , something shifting that you won't be able to name for years.

But I followed a calling rather than a salary. I didn't wait until retirement to do the things I wanted to do, I've done them along the way.

I think I recognised something early, without being able to articulate it, that nature was good for me. That being outside was sustaining everything inside me.

Now I want to give that back. Just as an open invitation. Come outside. Move. Notice. See what shifts.

Find us on Meetup or at www.go-differently.com