I may have wasted too much time and energy traipsing down the wrong paths. Last week, I decided to do something about it. Recently, one of those inspirational life signposts that abound on Facebook popped up on my screen. It said: “Start where you are, use what you have and do what you can”. I liked it and shared it because it spoke exactly of where I was in lots of ways.

I am blessed to have a farm that an auctioneer long ago advertised as being “divided by a never failing stream”. Such a stream is a huge asset in ensuring that I will always have water for my stock. However, it also means that I rely on bridges to connect each side of the farm. For decades, I have relied on just three bridges. Forty years ago, I put in the main bridge designed to connect to the cattle yard rather than the dwelling house. However, it recently occurred to me that when checking cows for bulling “across the river” in the morning or last thing at night, my starting point is my front door rather than the yard. I only then realised that I have spent years taking longer than necessary walks several times a day, with a huge waste of time and energy.

Bardoge fishing

As a young lad, I used to take a shortcut path down from the house and scramble across the river under an old spreading ash tree at the nearest point to the house. This was also a favourite spot for catching the little stickleback fish we called bardoges and daydreaming. When I ceased to be a young lad, bardoge-catching, daydreaming and scrambling went out of fashion, so the path was abandoned, overgrown with scrub and trees and forgotten.

Then just recently, it crossed my mind to reinstate that old path. So, last week, when I had young helpers around, I made a plan. I started at my front door, assembled the few old crush gates and railway sleepers I had, and did what I could. In just a couple of hours we cut through fences, installed gates, made footbridges and trimmed briars sufficiently to reopen the old path.

I am thrilled with the outcome and enjoy every opportunity to go see the cattle. The path passes through vigorous plantings of ash, maple, willows alders and oaks. Their sweet aromas, the insects and bird song gives me a great lift every time I pass. Every visitor gets dragged along to share the scene and to add their personal footfall to the newly beaten path. I find it amazing that something so obvious and so simple has made such a difference in my routine and in my outlook.

Starting where you are, using what you have and doing what you can is such a great prescription. In modern farming, it is so easy to feel disconnected and disempowered about your situation. Markets, weather, regulations, uncertainty, fear and real and perceived obstacles can all appear to block our path to where we really need to be. We can spend years going over unnecessary ground when there is a better path right under our nose. Taking time to look where we are going, and to find the best path, is so important.

Like me, you may find that the right path is an old one from the past that you have neglected or strayed from. With the hay saved and Cork well and truly beaten, it may well be a great time to go out and look for a better path to where you want to go. Or even just put a couple of sleepers across a ditch to make life easier for yourself. Little things can make a big difference: like me, you may be amazed where it takes you.