Embrace Boredom
What is boredom? Boredom is apathy, lethargy, lack of interest in anything, lack of excitement, a feeling of same old same old. We get easily bored by monotonous schedules and ordinary routines. Nobody revels in repetition and so we relentlessly request relief from redundancy. Some of us even get into behaviors that gradually turn into addictions.
We see this in relationships too when people go from one person to another looking for the perfect mate. There is no perfect mate out there. Marriage is a union of two imperfect people trying to make a perfect union, patiently dealing with the drudgery and monotony of the daily grind. It is hard work and that is why these days young people don’t want to make a commitment. They don’t have the patience and diligence required to appreciate the seeming monotony of being with the same person. Monogamy is monotonous, some say. We also see it when people hop from one job to another, hoping to find the perfect fit.
People move from one city to another hoping that life would be better in the new place, only to find out after a few months, that it is the same stuff again.
They forget the perennial truth that wherever you go, there you are.
The you who made you miserable remains the miserable you, regardless of the location. Location won’t alter you; but an altered you will fit into any location.
Advertisers prey on our tendency to get bored when they urge us to buy more, buy new, buy now. That is why people go shopping to buy things they don’t need. They think the new gadget is going to make them happy. They buy clothes they really don’t need, only to realize that the new has become old in a few weeks.
Some people replace their working phones every year. There is nothing wrong with the iPhone 12, but they are bored with it. They want the iPhone 13. Or they have become so bored with the Samsung Galaxy S20 that they need to buy the Galaxy S21 Ultra! They buy a new car not because there is anything wrong with the present car, but because they are just bored driving it.
We think grass is greener on the other side of the fence. But we don’t have the wisdom to realize that the grass is greener where you water it. As we look for constant drama in our lives, the predictable becomes unpalatable.
Let us face it. Most of life is routine, boring, predictable stuff. We must get up every day and do certain routine stuff. Go to the bathroom, wash your face, brush your teeth, take a shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, go to work, come home, watch TV, eat dinner, watch some more TV, and go to bed. We get up the next morning to repeat steps one through twelve again!
Don’t get discouraged. Don’t be in a hurry to bring excitement into life. Get used to the boring routines of life. Appreciate the stability. Keep on doing the same thing over and over and learn to experience the newness of the old. That is what the Earth does. As inhabitants of Earth, we are expected to do the same. Fighting against it is only going to make us miserable earthlings.
The Earth’s routine is predictable. It goes around in the same orbit, with the same speed every day. It doesn’t change speed and say, Yesterday, I was going too slow, let me put the gas to the pedal and speed up. We see young people doing it with their cars and often get into accidents killing themselves and sometimes others. The Earth doesn’t do that. It is the same boring speed every day, for millions of years.
The Earth doesn’t get bored and say, it is the same route every day; I need to change the orbit today and take a more scenic route. If it does that, life as we know it will be over. If the orbit gets one inch closer to the sun, we will be incinerated. If it moves one inch away from the sun, we will be frozen. It has to keep the same steady path, day after day, year after year for millions of years!
Grass grows in wet grounds; plants take in carbon dioxide and give out oxygen; ripened leaves fall to the ground and disintegrate; fish always swim in the water; night falls as predicted and day breaks in as anticipated. No surprises. Nothing out of the ordinary. The same old boring stuff, day after day, year after year.
So how do we get respite from the repetitions? How to find excitement in ordinary, day to day realities of life? How do we find newness in the old? How do we stay faithful in our faith when there are so many challenges to our faith all around?
In his book Stumbling on Happiness, psychologist Daniel Gilbert says: “Wonderful things are especially wonderful the first time they happen, but their wonderfulness wanes with repetition.”
He reminds us that true and lasting wonder needs to be renewed regularly, even daily. Otherwise, life’s inevitable formula will be:
“Wonder-FULL is followed by wonder- half full, which is followed by wonder-quarter-full, which quickly becomes wonder-less.”
(from Cosmic Kindergarten: Earthly Lessons for a Heavenly Life)
