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Sabbatical – final report

Colin
by Colin on 10/02/17 18:11

I write this blog on my first day back – 6th February; I walked out of work on 20th December. It was a truly extraordinary and amazing experience to be able to do that and all being well it won’t be the last time I do this by a long way.

I have spoken to many people about this during the time I was off and what is amazing about it is the fact that people think it is amazing. The reactions range from incredulity at the ability to be able to take such a protracted period of time off work to anger and jealousy at the fact that I wasn’t at work in January.

I had one day short of 7 weeks with no iPhone, no laptop, an iPad with an email address for only very close friends and confidants. I linked to Strava (my exercise programme) but there was no Facebook, no Twitter and for the latter part no blog.

Mostly people want to know ‘what I’ve learned’ or what I know now. I’m sorry to report that there has been no huge epiphany, no blinding flash of genius that has come to me, no wisdom I have now that I didn’t have then. In the last week of my time off, following a 5-day self imposed training camp to Tenerife on my bike, it finally all fell into place. The sense of peace, the sense of contentment and a deep, deep seated happiness, the like of which I have rarely ever known before.

My relationship with my family is amazing (it wasn’t bad before, it’s just deeper and better)

I have spent time with people I wanted to spend time with and had conversations with them that I wanted to have.

I have ridden my bike and trained as if I was a pretend athlete.

I have looked after what I’ve eaten and have corrected my sleep.

But mostly what have I found? What was the one thing that I found during my self-imposed exile and time away? I found gratitude.

I found that I was so grateful for everything I had, all the special, wonderful things I have in my life that I had overlooked because I was too busy to notice. Not to navel-gaze, not to be gushing, not to be sycophantic and not to do an Oscar speech. I’m not so grateful for the material stuff that lies around me (although clearly, that stuff is great and I am so lucky) it’s the people and the relationships and the experiences.

Gratitude has been described as being the most overlooked human emotion – people chase happiness and contentment. I believe that happiness and contentment come from gratitude. I believe first you have to be grateful for what you have and then everything else falls into place.

I didn’t set out to find that – it just slapped me on the face.

I go back to work today, I’ve missed the guys at work. I am really grateful for the guys at work.

I will be busy, there is lots to do but I will face the challenges again, safe in the knowledge that I am more glad that they’re there than not.

Finally though, I had an idea for a new business while I was off – I think I should set up a consultancy agency to assist and aid people to create their own sabbatical time however it fits into their lives – a day a week, a week a month, a month a year. I think if all of us had the ability and yes, probably the bravery to take the plunge and do that, we would appreciate that whatever the financial cost of that kind of time it is absolutely worth it and more.

I haven’t figured out the cost of being off work and I’m not really interested but I can tell you that whatever it was… I would pay twice as much to do it again next year.

 

Blog Post Number - 1190

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Colin
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