Boredom is the dry rot of the soul. It comes when we feel that what we're doing isn't worth the time nor is it interesting, worthwhile or challenging. Boredom can be the result of living too efficiently and less effectively. When our life becomes a series of habits and routines, then our creative juices are not stirred up enough to avoid boredom.
Oftentimes we hear children say to their parents, "I'm bored." The best answer for that is a question, "What are you going to do about it?" We need to learn very early that when we are bored it's our own responsibility, not others' to get us out of it. IF we stay bored too long we escape into pseudo-sophistication or we become melancholy, refusing to lift ourselves by our emotional bootstraps out of the quagmire. I would make three suggestions to the bored:
First, break up the repetition of life. Sometimes the most simple changes will help because they help us to use our minds rather than our habits. When I was speaking constantly, I would find when a talk became boring to me I would rearrange the points just to increase my interest and concentration. Routine we need for efficiency, but life is more than efficiently using time.
Second, add something good to your life. Start a new activity, begin a new hobby, see the old things in new ways, start new friendships and new activities, do something specific for others each day. Enroll in a course, sign up for a film series, symphony concert, summer theater, athletic event, Bible study, but do something good! Remembering the more bored you are, the less interested you will be when you start, but the more interested you will become and in becoming more interested you will become more interesting.
Thirdly, take something bad out of your life. We all have things that need correcting. The sedentary life is a good place to start making a change. "Goofing off" may need redefinition. For example, one of the most interesting men I know has decided not to read the daily newspaper ---- so much of it is repetitious and absolutely of no earthly value. Some of us may need to stop an activity which is nothing but activity. Surely you can find something to throw out. We spent one New Year's Eve in Naples, Italy. We became acquainted with their quaint custom of throwing things out the window that they don't want to carry into the New Year. The street is so littered that for several hours afterwards the cars can't move. Seemingly everyone has something to throw out the window. It's a good way to begin the war on boredom in our own personal lives. Boredom is the sure sign of poor self-management.
