Even in what I wrote yesterday, I attested to the fact that I really should practice what I preach, but the reality is that it’s not always that straightforward.

A while back, I wrote about my morning ritual and how great it is to have a mini routine to set me up for the day, particularly working in the whirlwind that constitutes the yachting industry.

My days are strange in that there is very rarely any consistency. When the owners are on board, I can go from running around at a million miles an hour for eighteen hours or I can go for hours just sitting around in my own world.

When there are no guests, I am doing completely different things which takes me away from cooking and therefore gives me less time to focus on what I love doing and more time to get organised and set a tone for the next trip.

On the in between days, I can workout almost routinely every day after work because there’s a set ending to the day: once I’ve cleaned up from my projects and the crew have been fed. I can step off the boat and go for a run, a walk, do a yoga flow or whatever my body feels like.

With guests on, the timings are completely off and a routine is difficult to obtain. That’s why I focus so much on the morning and the way I start my day. It’s important for me to have a moment of calm before I get lost in conversations, potter about with my daily tasks or get too stuck into cooking.

It all starts with coffee, lots of coffee, and some fresh air.

Now, I’m making a point of including writing into my morning routine because it makes me feel good. It helps me to get the words off my chest, onto something more concrete and out into the universe. I don’t know who’s reading this and nor does it bother me when I start my rambles – I’m merely giving myself a platform to process my thoughts and if anyone comes along for the ride, offers moral support or is lifted by it then that’s excellent. A bonus.

Today, I’m trying to clear my mind from a rough weekend of emotional outbursts. I’m sitting out in the morning sun with a hot cup of coffee, anchored off Ile Ste Marguerite near Cannes, my wet hair is blowing all over the place and I can only think about how frizzy it’s going to be by the time I look in a mirror again, but who cares.

I’m trying to catch my breath and remember the words that our last guest said to me as he fought back tears after leaving “the best holiday of his life” and they were :

“it’s okay Lauren, everything comes to an end, the good and the bad”.

These words stuck to me like glue. They resonated with me in the moment and have been in the back of my mind ever since. The wisdom within the simplicity of that thought blows my mind. Think about it.

We sit and dwell on the bad times and ponder over what could be or what could have been. We sit and wish our lives away waiting for something new or wishing we were somewhere else, doing another thing. We wish for what we don’t have, what we can’t have, what’s not ours, what’s out of reach. We dream up scenarios based on the good times we once had or based on something we saw in a magazine or on social media. We constantly live in a state of wanting something other than what’s ours right now.

But this man was right. A teary eyed, middle aged man who was 6’5 and wore an XXL top standing in front of me with his hand on my shoulder, looking deeply into my eyes as he said these words with such sincerity shook me to life.

Everything does come to an end. The sadness and the happiness.

Nothing is permanent and I think it’s such an important fact of life that is often overlooked but is important to remember.

The bad will never stay bad and the good won’t always be good.

Just appreciate the here and now. The very moment we are in.

The present. It’s a gift and we will never have this moment again. It’s important to make it count, make the best of the moments we are given and give our best shot at this beautiful, crazy, wild thing called life.

At the end of the day, our emotions are a mere state of mind. Our actions are a reflection of our thoughts and our lives are only ours to live. How we decide to do that really is ultimately up to us, and only us.

So with this new chapter, this new year for some, new week for everyone, new day here in France, let’s take this thought with us and give ourselves a chance to be our best, make our days count and remember this important fact of life.

Be free, this life is yours.

Ours.

L, xo