Tag: sabbatical

Coming Out of the Darkness

You’re a good person. The world needs you. These days? You’re nowhere to be found. You’ve suffered incredible pain, sorrow, and sometimes it feels like you just can’t go on another day. Yet, you know it is time for your coming out of the darkness.

Life and love are laying in wait, buried deep inside you, waiting for the moment you set them free. You, your special gifts, abilities, passionate voice, and unencumbered love are waiting to be let loose. The day has come, and you know it to be true.

No one would blame you for pulling back, withdrawing from the flow, or taking a sabbatical, all necessary for you to heal and recalibrate after all you’ve been through but the time has come for you to reclaim your birthright and reemerge better than you were before, with more love, life, and vitality.

You have survived the most horribly ostentatious challenges. You have survived. And the world needs you now more than ever.

The time has come for you to live a better life, your best life, and make the world a better place.

If you’re having trouble remembering what really living was all about, find an enthusiastic, vibrant and exciting child to play with. Remember what life was all about. These little people aren’t restrained by all the trappings of life and see everything as amazing and fun. Playing with a child will help to awaken the child in you who is waiting to come out and play.

Reach out. Make friends. Let your light shine and help to improve the lives around. Start small, be there for one person, then another, and another. Build your organic network one person at a time. It’s okay to be cautious but be fearless and lead with love.

Start giving. Find opportunities to volunteer helping others and enjoy the benefits of performing random acts of kindness. Your giving doesn’t have to be huge, it can be infinitesimally small, starting a chain reaction which changes the world for good.

Look for and find reasons to celebrate the good things in life, even if seemingly insignificant. The time has come for you to celebrate good times. Come on. Invite your inner child to come out and party with you.

You’ve learned powerful lessons from your past and this education came at great emotional expense but now is the time to look for the good, happiness and joy which is all around waiting to reveal all the good things in life to you.

Everything has led to this moment and you are ready.

It’s time to put yourself out there. The new and improved you, ready to believe and achieve your highest and best.

Get a grip on your Purpose, Message, Passion, and Mission (PMPM) and prepare to start singing your song proud and out loud.

A whole new world of possibilities is waiting for you.

I am here for you, the whole world is here for you, all the angels and energy in the universe is on your side.

Now is the time to celebrate your coming out of the darkness and into the light, emerging in love and light.

You got this… Now, more than ever.

Sabbatical Take a Break

Sometimes in life amidst the pursuit of success and happiness it is prudent, if not necessary to take a break from the constant grind of your daily routine and completely unplug from your profession for a period of time to re-center, evaluate, reposition yourself and consider charting an entirely new course for your life’s journey.

sabbatical self discovery reconnection take a break

This process takes more than the traditional week or two of vacation and can take months or years. Corporations are seeing the value of this increasing employee or partner value over time and may offer official sabbaticals (extended separation or leave with, or without, pay while not losing their job as they take this important personal time to focus on themselves free from professional constraints).

In some cases, if taking an authorized sabbatical is not an option, one may have to resign completely and walk away.

If you have been stuck in a particular career path for many years, you may need more time to effectively separate, discover and reconnect with your true self. In many cases our sense of self erodes or dissolves away in service to others, especially over long periods of time. Everyone is different, some may require months off to conduct their rediscovery, for others, it could take years.

Being restrained in an intense, high-pressure profession is manageable but over time the stress and strain can understandably take a toll on even the most top performance professional, leading some on a crash course to burnout, or worse, even to suicidal thoughts and tendencies. How much better would it be to take a break (sabbatical) with the likelihood of returning to your profession re-exhilarated and ready to conquer the world?

The better you prepare for your break, the less concerned you will be about the day-to-day responsibilities (part of the purpose of the break). Have some money set aside in savings. Investigate health care or insurance options, maintenance of retirement accounts and other accounts while you remain unplugged.

I had a client who lacking any preparation (but felt it was imperative to take immediate action) quit his job without notice, moved to a small coastal community, lived in a trailer and washed dishes at a restaurant to finance his break. He says it not only saved his life, but empowered him to discover new meaning and purpose in his life. (You might be surprised if you knew who was working in the kitchen at the restaurant you frequent.)

Now, he is back on the top of his game, more successful and better than before following his three-year severance. I know many people who have self-financed their sabbatical via Internet Marketing, where all they needed was an Internet-capable device and an Internet connection… and they never went back to traditional work environment.

Even so, you might consider better preparation for your sabbatical, including plans to return in some fashion, shape or form. It’s best not to burn any bridges upon your departure from service.

What you do during this extended time off is totally up to you. What is important self-focused, self-indulgent, self-sacrificing or inner exploration of self is totally individualized for each person. Do not fashion your break after anyone else’s, nor compare your break to anyone else’s. Even though you may use someone else’s break for inspiration and may even begin modeling after someone’s sabbatical that went before, let your journey unfold and change direction to better suit your own inner work, personal needs and desires.

Take this time to rediscover who you are, your inner being… Connect, or reconnect, with your life’s purpose, your individual mission and message to bring to the world. Find your authentic voice from within and celebrate by singing your song.

Focus on your individualized healing, incorporating rest and relaxation. Engage in activities that thrill you, bring a sense of joy to your soul or give you a strong sense of purpose or meaning. Take this precious time to accomplish some of the items you might love to scratch off of your bucket list.

This is your time to be or do anything you want. Consider travelling to a new location, engaging in a new field of study or trying out new hobbies. Experiment with new recreational activities and technologies, whatever piques your interest, try it; see if you like it.

Expect to emerge like the Phoenix from the ashes. The new you will be more able to achieve more, be more and offer more to the local community and the world at large than ever before.