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Day 23 - The right to be bored

I’ve been thinking and rethinking this post since Sunday. I wanted to do it then but I didn’t...

As I asked myself why this was, I came to realise that there are usually only a few legitimate reasons for not doing something. A real reason could be:

Not being able to physically be in two places at once

Being deathly ill or disabled

Not having the skill set to complete the task

But for the most part, I’ve found that I don’t do things because I don’t find them interesting.

Did I just say that? *confessional moment*

For as long as I can remember I’ve always sought to think,do and be apart of things that I believed were “interesting”. And even if something was not interesting, I would feign interest because the idea of being bored and perhaps considered boring was out of the question.

The reasoning behind this idea is quite embarrassing...

During my very impressionable years, I heard someone say that “only boring people get bored.”

Of all the dumb things that people say, this was one saying that became etched in my brain and became a rule to live by

“Thy shall not be bored”

I vowed never to use the words, I’m bored” EVER and I think I could count the number of times that I have used those words to date.

Let’s talk a little bit about interest and her cousin boredom for a little bit shall we?

When someone says they are bored, they are saying that they are in a state of weariness brought on by the dullness and or tedious repetition of a task or experience and in contrast when we are interested in something, it, this thing, person or experience arouses curiosity and holds our attention.

It’s plain to see why one would wish to tango with cousin interest over cousin boredom any day.

Until about 2 weeks ago, when I sat in my home office and allowed myself to feel completely bored...

I allowed myself to experience the dullness roll in and hover like a storm cloud overhead.

For one full day, I quit feigning interest in TV shows, if it sucked I turned it off. (Sorry Mad Men)

The book was to dreary, I shelved it. Emails got deleted, letters shredded.

Magazines recycled.

If it did’t catch my attention and hold it, I stopped doing it immediately.

And surprise surprise, I didn’t combust from boredom

(This was once a very real fear.)

Instead being bored gave me great choice.

It helped me choose to do more things that caught and held my attention

Such as the outcome of the UK elections and how it would affect the GBP/NZD.

Feeling my stronger right shoulder as I did my chatarangas in hot yoga class.

Being able to stay in crow pose for more than 5 seconds.

Writing sales letters and emails for a long overdue conversion funnel for my business.

Thinking, writing and having idea sex as outlined in Choose Yourself by James Altucher

Talking to my best girlfriend for an hour.

So if you’ve spent any amount of time feigning interest in things, people and conversations, just stop.

It’s not worth it. I give you permission to be bored and go on to do something else.

For all our sakes.

We can’t possibly find everything that comes our way interesting. We’re so different and this is what makes life so colourful.

I know you might be thinking, but Busi, there are things that we have to do that might be boring and my response to that is, you must believe that you have a choice. Because you do.

1. You could always pay someone else to do it

2. If you can’t pay someone else to do it, change your attitude towards that which you find boring.

Of course you can’t just leave your boring desk job when you have rent and car payment but you can do something interesting after work instead of sitting in front of the couch and eating cheap potato chips.

I know how bloody hard this is, because for years I worked in jobs that bored me to tears, and I always stayed too long because I never acknowledged that I was actually bored!

I’ve hung out with people who were energy sap because I feared being alone and by golly maybe even bored!

So, I get it, I totally get it.

But responsibility does not give us a free pass to continue doing things that bore us.

We can start by doing a few things that interest us every day and this way we exercise our “this is what truly interests me” muscle.

I don’t believe life is meant to be all sunshine lollipop and roses 24/7 because even things that you love and that interest you will drive you completely come with challenges but better an interesting challenge than feigning resolve to fix a problem that you don’t give a shit about.

I’m starting to ramble but the point of this post was that

1. Being bored is not a bad thing, it gives us an opportunity to choose anew what it is that we want that can hold our attention.

2. We all have to do “boring” things from time to time and we can change our attitude towards these things. Think about all the benefits of doing them.

Like going to the gym and eating wholesome foods. Some people find these activities boring (i love them) but the benefits of doing these two things far out weight the minor inconveniences.

3. Stop doing the stupid shit that is boring to you.

Stop going to happy hour with negative co workers when you would really rather be working on your pirate novel.

Stop gossiping or visiting dumb websites.

By not doing the boring things, you create a void in your brain, and you give your mind space to go to work and fill your life with things that have real meaning to you. [note to self.]

P.S. I think the body of these blogs is sometimes kinda interesting, but the ends of the blogs literally kill me. I think they are the corniest trash ever.

I’m hoping if I continue to write the endings will get better. Or if you want to partner up and help me right those “get your ass into gear” endings, I’d be much obliged!

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