The two thirds resume — getting personal
So what they say is, that the Social Sabbatical is a life changing experience and I think it is fair to draw a line at this point in time already. I guess to approach the question best, the first thing to ask is what changed?
To me — I certainly gained 11 amazing friends and colleagues in my life. I also gained a small family at CEDUC including my coworkers there.
The special thing about family is that you support each other, look out for one another, and are honest with each other. Family is a part of being home even if you are not and family sticks together through everything. You look at one another with care and warm hearts and like each other with all your flaws. Family does not judge.
Now one can say- you already have a family- is that life changing then?
Well I think we can certainly learn something out of it.
First of all — everyone wants to belong and make a difference- that’s human nature. A family understands that and supports each other in the best way possible without losing themselves in it. There is no competition only one joined goal.
Second — a family does not look for mistakes — family looks through the eyes of kindness instead of mistrust.
If everyone would take a little bit of this in their daily work place- we could turn our companies in the best ones out there with so little effort.
What else changed?
I have been mentioning this before- Brazil is unfortunately one of the country’s, where not everyone has the same chances in life in terms of education, care and overall support. Stories of abandoned kids, drug use of parents, suicides and a lot of poverty should make you realize how lucky you are. Instead of complaining about things that really mean nothing compared to these kind of things, we should be happy, glad and thankful for all the support, security, equality and health we have, compared to so many others. And it does not even take much to change this perception. Be happy with what you have, enjoy the life you have to the fullest and smile as much as you can. Others would do anything to life the live we are given with a good health system, job security, enough money to pay everything we need.
INSPIRATION — if you work with people that have a dream and no matter what gets in their way they will tackle it, have review cycles to improve and with what they have create the most amazing things- there is nothing like it. My head is already spinning on how parts of this experience can be brought home. And I really hope I can find a way by reviewing my skills to find something that fits to take this spirit back home!
Anything else?
Yes- working with a couple of strangers (even when becoming family quickly) trying to achieve something can be challenging, especially if you aim to deliver the best thing anyone can do.
Being open, honest, strict, clear, supporting, on time, driven and professional are just some key words to describe the working mode required AND the return on this investment is massive! What we achieved by being exactly this is great. One of my goals of the Social Sabbatical was to have an impact in the long run for CEDUC. And I think I can already say with what we have delivered already, we were able to achieve this goal and that’s a wonderful thing.
So now back to the question will it be a life changing experience- I think this is true for every longer trip, especially if you are not surrounded by the people you usually spend the most time with. You never come home as the same person you left! For me — I definitely learned a lot about myself, but also it embraced even more my view on life — you only have this one given and you need to spend it with the most joy, thankfulness and love possible!
