BOREDOM TEACHES US LIFE'S LESSONS

Boredom teaches us to reflect and evaluate our lives. Why do we feel bored? Is the activity boring? Is it something we do all the time and it is a rote item? I try to do my routine "boring" things in between the activities that bring me pleasure. If I do some writing for example, then some household activities, there is more pleasure in the day. Besides getting up and moving around may bring some ideas to the project at hand.  I learnt many years ago not to waste the positive energy on boring daily pursuits. So when some enjoyable interests are done, then the vacuuming or laundry or weeding can be approached with a different degree of satisfaction and less energy. They are functions that are necessary and take time. So when sandwiched between fun things or rewarding enterprises, more gets accomplished daily. Shortlisting those activities to fit in the day and not make them the day. Rewards are good for us. Set a day, or a week or a month to get those boring activities done. For example,two weekends in October will take some of my hours cleaning my garage for winter. Junk has been moved from the house to the garage over the last few months. Another boring activity- sorting and eliminating stuff not needed. To be sorted and bagged! To the curb, to a charity or do we sell it!  The garden items will come into the garage and need to be organized. Hopefully there will be one big clean spot like last year for the car! It helps to have the plans for the activities that do not bring joy but are so necessary. It is okay to call them boring because maybe they really are boring! Even if we go sailing too much it too can become boring. So jazz up your life sometimes. Throw in some fun stuff so the everyday necessary activities can be approached. One might even find a way to enjoy them because they do not consume your life.

HOW BORING ARE YOU?

Sometimes we can find ourselves bored with many areas of our lives. To say " I am bored" can have many implications. What is boring? What activities do you do that bring this feeling? Many things we do routinely can be boring but necessary. The same old work meetings, the same old household tasks, the same old drive to work- well can be boring. Can we use this feeling of boredom to trigger us to find things in our lives that are not boring? Doing a boring activity like yard work but the end result is a pretty garden with the reward of it just looking good! Cleaning that cluttered closet-boring- but with the feeling of a job well done. Finishing those many little projects that take energy to complete- patch the hole in the wall, wash the car, sew on some buttons- well you know what those little projects can be. Boredom prompts us in many ways. Doing the boring things first enables us to move on to the ones with rewards. Household task, then continue reading the book. Reviewing the charts then go see the patients. Editing the written word then continue to write something creative. Boredom, boring are wasted energy users! Can we label the tasks differently? Is procrastination connected with boredom? My Dad used to say- People that are bored are also boring! Hum, some food for thought!