Stolen moments

The air was tinged with salt, cool in the early morning but with a hint of promise at the warmth the day would hold. I stood at the open window looking at the deep blue ocean under an azure sky and the red rooved houses below and inhaled deeply feeling very much in the moment, in the precise moment in which I needed to be within, at that specific time.

I'd been haphazardly making my way around the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur part of France, no fixed plans or destinations just days that followed nights, a cycle of sunrise and sunset with what I referred to as the ideal life in between each. It was idyllic, a series of moments in beautiful places and with my man who felt as passionate about the places we went as he did me I returned that passion all the time, day and night.

Life isn't always easy; problems arise, trouble strikes and sometimes life dictates to us - we have to focus on less pleasant things, do tasks just to get through it and to progress - and that's why the moments I was spending seemed so valuable to me in the moment. I felt like I was stealing life back, drawing from the credit I'd amassed in different times through effort and hard work. Stolen moments? Maybe I was owed them. Either way, I was taking them, using them and spending them in amazing places and with an amazing man.

I think about that time, those stolen moments, in France and many others like them, in times of stress and worry and when life takes hold a little too tightly and they comfort me and help to put life into perspective. It would be amazing to have the luxury to travel constantly, to spend time in places simply because I loved them, to have no time-frame, no responsibilities other than my own enjoyment, contentment and satisfaction but life's not like that - life can be hard at times and reality can be sobering.

Today, after a difficult week, I was thinking about those stolen moments in France and many other places around the world and felt such gratitude that I have them to strengthen me. They bring me hope and happiness and fortify me that I may do what I must when the realities of life weigh upon me.