And here I am, the very last day of my 8 week long sabbatical from work. I can hardly believe that it even happened at all, and I have to pinch myself at how lucky I am to have received this gift. Now that I am at the end of it, I've realized that that is exactly what sabbatical was for me - the gift of time - which is invaluable to me. When my mom died, it changed my entire perspective on life, and in particular on time. I realized that our time on Earth is so limited and that time is a precious commodity. I decided then, that I would no longer waste my time on people or things that don't matter; instead I committed to spending my time in positive, meaningful ways, with people and on things that add value to my life, not take away from it. While this isn't always possible, I try to be mindful of it and use it as a barometer for gauging situations that I find myself in.
This sabbatical gave me time to spend with my husband, my children, my nieces, other family members, friends, even my neighbors. It also gave me time to spend on my house, doing projects that shape it into our family home, and that gave me a chance to be creative. I had time to read, sleep, exercise, and take inventory of my life both mentally and spiritually. I was able to travel to Europe for 3 weeks and see a little bit more of the world. I had time to make memories with my kids.
While I hate to sound like corporate America, I am walking away with "lessons learned". I won't bother with the minutiae, but basically I am going to try harder to keep a better balance in my life between work, home life and me as an individual. I am going to slow down more and take time to eat meals, sitting down (versus on the go) and not multitasking. I will take more breaks and work less nights. I will remember that my kids are growing up faster than I can keep up with, so I need to live in the present with them, as much as possible.
One last thought I have: while I half-jokingly whine and moan about having to go back to work, I also realize that I am fortunate to go back to a company and a job that does very meaningful work. During sabbatical, a good friend's father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer; a friend was diagnosed with colon cancer; my cousin's friend was diagnosed with breast cancer...the list can go on. My day job is dedicated to finding a cure for cancer, and in the meantime, offering brand new therapies to people who have no other options. My hope is that from clinical trials, these people will also be granted the gift of extra time with their loved ones.
And on that note...countdown to the next sabbatical: T-minus 5 years!
