Sabbatical Of The Mind by David L Winters

Sabbatical Of The Mind: The Journey From Anxiety To Peace by David L. Winters is the record of David's personal 5-month sabbatical from work and the busyness of his daily life in order to find peace. Anxiety attacks, health problems, and multiple phobias start David on a mission to find healing - physically, mentally, and spiritually. As David recounts the adventures and lessons learned during his sabbatical, he also walks us through the process of preparing for a sabbatical. Making sure that financial concerns and social obligations are taken care of, setting goals for the path toward healing, and mapping out a rough itinerary in order to help himself stay focused and on track.

The sabbatical planning process was the most interesting part to me, as David takes the time to explain how he came to the decisions he did about what to focus on, how to do this, and how to measure his progress during his break. After returning to work, he also shares how this time off has affected him long-term by changing his responses to specific situations. There's also an appendix listing the books that David Winters read during his sabbatical, as suggestions for helping you along your own journey.

The book is written in a very easy-to-read format. However, most of it reads as though being excerpts from journal entries, lacking the flow of a natural time progression. Memories from the distant past are combined with present-day experiences, which can leave you kind of wondering what order the events are actually happening in.

I'm giving this book 3/5 stars. While it would be an interesting read for anyone wanting to learn more about David's personal journey, there isn't a lot that can be pulled from it for your own path to healing from the overwhelm of the daily grind. Maybe it will encourage you to take your own leave of absence (if able), but you've probably already been contemplating "taking a break" if you pick this book up just based on the title/cover.

*Disclaimer: I received a free print edition of this book from the publisher through BookCrash, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.*

About the book's author (from back of book): David Winters is an author, speaker, and worshiper who lives in the suburbs of Washington DC with a small bird named Birdie. His dreams include working his way up to owning a dog at some point. He retired from a long career with the Navy and a three-letter government agency, where he managed people, money, and his emotions.

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