Let’s face it – even well trained navy personnel need to take shore leave to offset the stress and long working hours spent at sea, it’s a tough job, so the idea of a professional person taking a sabbatical seems to make a whole lot of sense. A well timed break from the constant demands of work could be just the right move to perhaps recalibrate your life and to  create some contemplative moments or simply take stock.

Enjoying what you do doesn’t necessarily mean that you should keep on doing it, especially as we approach retirement age. Often the habit of work, along with the status and identity it provides,  keeps you soldiering on way past the point where it remains the healthy option.

Create Some Stillness  – there’s no time, there’s no space and where does it all end. For those of us close to retiring it’s easy to feel pretty burnt out, a lifetime of work and bringing up a family can often leave us with little opportunity to smooth over the fog. Making critical life decisions about your future should be taken from a position of calm, dispassion and certainly after a period of respite and clear reflection. The next step needs some peaceful moments, a pause in the madness to reconsider your options. A sabbatical could provide just that.

A Range Of Options – when you hear the word sabbatical most would immediately associate it with time ‘away from work’. Asking the boss for a breather to allow you to make that trip to the Himalayas you always dreamed of or the burning passion to start that book you know will be a winner but, of course, that is only one option. Many advisors would also suggest you use your better judgement when risking the career you’ve worked so hard for. However, another possibility is that you’re not coming back to work at all and you’re using this precious time to decide what it is you really want to do and it’s  incredibly valuable, especially if you’re still earning income in the meantime.  

All Those That Wander Are Not Lost – I first came across this sign in the streets of Edinburgh, they were words that impacted me greatly. How could I possibly ‘just walk’ and not have a purpose or a destination in mind. We need to pause because our working lives have separated us from ourselves, from nature. We need respite. Not having to be self- conscious is a great blessing in old age and if you simply want to wander along the path for no other reason than to be strolling, to be headed nowhere in particular, then you should take it all in, it could become an exciting expedition and happily, you will have nothing to apologise to anyone for.