[sinenomine]

I too would like if my life were nice by default, but it is not. When faced with a hard problem we have to resort to hard measurements of progress, because otherwise we tend to go in circles in high-dimensional parameter space.

Otherwise taking a sabbatical is a nice decent feel-good advice.

> If you are able to regain your energy and enthusiasm you will surely be extremely employable, so your overall risk seems low.

And that's a big if.