How taking up a foreign language certification gave me that perfect break from work

When one thinks of taking a break from work, normally what comes to mind are the pristine beaches of some distant island OR answering the call of the mighty Himalayas OR that leisure trek into wild nature, and so on. But then, this involves a lot of planning, working out a budget, finding a likeminded travel partner, identifying the best season to travel, etc. What I realized is that you can still be in your city & get that perfect break from work just depending on your convenient time & money.

 I took up a German language course few years back, and this is my experience that I always wanted to share, finally getting some time to jot it down. It was a weekend course, 1-2 hours each on Saturday & Sunday, for around 3 months. The primary goal of getting the German language A2 level certification was to pursue my evergreen dream of moving to Germany. But as it turned out, that goal didn’t materialize. However, this entire process of learning a foreign language & getting a certification taught me something that I never expected to learn.

When the certification exam date approached, I took 4 days off from work to prepare, and quite honestly, those were the best days off work that I ever took. I must admit here, that since a kid I have always enjoyed learning, reading books, and preparing for exams. So, after 10 years of professional life, when I went back to doing these things I loved and one that was totally different from my profession, it was simply amazing. It completely took me off from my professional world, into this new world, where I was learning something different, amongst folks who were at least 10 years younger to me. This really unwound me from the stressful work life.

Here is my advice to all those stressed up professionals out there. Choose one of your passions & either take up certification course or identify avenues to show case your talent. If you love dancing, learn a new form of dancing and get either certification done or schedule your dance performance at some known venue. The challenge of showcasing what you have learnt is what makes this exercise worthwhile. Take a week or so off from work before that finale, forget work for few days and completely get involved with your passion, it will do wonders.  You can learn some new musical instrument or pursue singing if you are into music. Perhaps take up painting, enroll into some sports competition, non-IT guys can take up IT courses, whatever that interests you. Just going to some class on the weekend with no strings attached will not do any justice. You must have a logical conclusion to this activity. At the end, who knows, it might open up a whole world of opportunities, an alternate profession perhaps or a new business idea. If not, in any case, it will definitely rejuvenate your mind & bring you back to work with a fresh sense of purpose.