Everyone gets bored now and then specially during this coronavirus pandemic because many of us have plenty of idle time. During this time, we have the choice of changing our mood to healthy alternatives versus connecting to family and friends and passing high flying and forceful hits to boost our mood and make selfish impression to feel important. This kind of negative boredom behavior can ultimately lead to alienating other people or could lead to some sort of addiction. Here’s an article inspired by the writings of Carole Bennett about the saying/proverb: “An idle mind is the devil’s playground/workshop.”

Those of us with too much time may easily find ourselves in hot, troubled waters if we are not wise enough to handle the idle time that we have properly. People who tend to be bored may also be weary or restless because of lack of any personal interests to explore. They are either bored with themselves, their daily routine or life.

 Boredom usually stems from one's own lack of motivation, endeavor or creativity. Everyone gets bored now and then, but it is the difference between changing that mood to either healthy or unhealthy alternatives. It is hard to imagine people being bored these days; even if they are not interested in stretching their muscles, feelings or their minds. There are so many gadgets these days that can provide hours of useless or entertaining activities, so it seems that one has to look hard and actually seek out boredom.  

Boredom takes some perseverance to shake off. It is a state of mind and requires a committed determination to do something about it or change up the routine. I have learned that one can form a habit out of being bored because it can present a degree of comfort and safety. Eventually, unless somebody expects something from us, or we don’t expect anything from ourselves, drugs and/or alcohol can seem like an acceptable choice of behavior and the easiest and quickest fix requiring little or no effort to get high or drink.

 Drugs or alcohol can appear to take away the pain of emotional, mental or physical challenges. Boredom is often simply a state of awareness that shows up just prior to the surfacing of difficult, painful things we have stuffed away from our conscious awareness.

 As difficult a challenge as boredom can present to overcome for anyone of any age, the answer lies in confronting and moving through and beyond the causes of boredom. Those of us experiencing significant levels of boredom need to ask themselves, what challenging and likely unpleasant experiences they are attempting to avoid. I have learned that for every sunrise in our lives we have an oppportunity to make someone smile, to care, to share, to  love, to be happy, and joyful. Let us do it!

  By Tim Pedrosa