From Boredom to Wisdom

The boring situations: - You may be residing in a remote village or the most advanced city. But, at times, you have to, for one thing or the other, stand in a queue to have something done. You may be doing so to collect your ration, railway ticket, a boarding pass or at the passport office. Or, maybe, the train or the flight is delayed and you are waiting for the next announcement. You become bored. You do not know when your turn will come or when will the expected announcement made or the job done. Similar boredom strikes when you are on a long journey by the train or bus or even by the plane. Your mind is in a state of what is called boredom. It is a mental state or a reactive emotion when you feel dissatisfied with your environment and also when the time is seemingly standing still or moving slowly. There are other situations also when you get bored. Such as, you are in a class and the subject taught is so simple or commonplace or already taught or on the other hand, it is complicated and uninteresting that causes failure of your attention. Or you are made to go to the same restaurant and eat same food again and got bored. Boredom may also affect other areas of a person’s life and could be clinical symptom at times.

2. Boredom while waiting: - In the present article, I am dealing with the situation where you are in a queue or on a long journey. The basic purpose is how to be happy and joyful in such situations. In these situations of boredom, your mind gets vacant as the outside environment fails to keep you fully occupied or aroused. You are in a situation when, it seems, you are forced to engage in some unwanted activity or activity not worthy of your engagement and that the time seems to move slowly. You feel injustice is being done to you by making you to do something and may be that too for a period more than it deserves.

3. Managing boredom: - When you are bored, you are not your natural personality. You may behave differently, may look unhappy or gloomy. Some of the people around may be in the similar state of mind. Somebody may be blaming the people seemingly responsible for the cause of boredom. Sometimes, the whole environment may be restless or a near miserable condition with negative or discomforting vibrations. The question is how to escape boredom in the above situations. As you see, you were pushed unto the grip of boredom as the external conditions fail to fully engage your attention. Your mind falls into a passive and negative state. Thus, it is a question of managing your attention. The best antidote is to engage your mind in some creative thinking. If you observe the other people around, you will find some of them happy or busy without any boredom. Nevertheless, if you are likely to face such situations of boredom, why not plan and do some of the following things to keep yourself happy and joyful.

(a) Think and Plan ahead: - If you know, you may have to face such situations such as undertaking a long journey or waiting at the doctor’s or at the railway station or the airport, think about it in advance, plan and reorganize your schedule so as to make things mentally acceptable, relaxing and joyful.

(b) Accept the situations as normal: - The world is not your module. It would not dance to your tunes. You may face situations thinkable or unthinkable, some you may think right and others wrong. You cannot change it. Things will go on, may be as it is. But you have to look after your own self. Thus in situations that bore you, it is best to accept it as a part of life. Resistance to such situations, blaming it on others makes things only worse. Observe it as a part of the varied drama of life. Enjoy it. Just realize that you are also a part of this varied drama of life. You have a role, which you have to play, and take you through the processes of life along with the bigger roles, which you think, you should play elsewhere.

© Learn to carry a book: - Book is one of the best friends of man. Always have a set of good books of your interest and, without forgetting, carry one with you. When you find yourself waiting and boring, make use of your best friend- the book. Or else, just pick up a newspaper or magazine and scan it. You may find some thing interesting.

(d) Listen to Music: - The easiest thing to do, while in a queue or during the journey is to listen to and enjoy music on your pocket transistor, mobile phone or the ipod. Music should not only remove your boredom but would soothe and relax you and make you more energetic.

(e) Start talking to your neighbor: - There would be other persons around equally bored and are in look out for a refuge. If you are a journalistic type of person, why not initiate a small conversation on any current topic of interest. But you should be careful that the other man is willing and not feeling offended.

(f) Don’t take life seriously always: - Don’t take life seriously 24 hours a day. You should relax at times. To put it more precisely, in the present context, do not hesitate or resist or complain if you find yourself doing little things of life. They are part of life’s learning and reforming your self. If you have read the life of the great Mahatma Gandhi or seen the film on him (By Richard Attenborough) you would be knowing that, all an a sudden, in the midst of a high level discussions with other top leaders, he would leave and engage himself in unimportant things like putting soil plaster on the sprained leg of a goat! Learn to enjoy everything in life.

(g) Be a Conqueror: - You think that the external conditions are not qualitative enough or worth your attention and it pushes you to boredom. You wish to leave and utilize your time in something worth your level. You can do that here and now. Just leave the outer world and move unto the inner. Switch on the laptop of the super computer in your head. Start browsing. You will, with learning gradually, find an endless list of works and issues to dwell upon. It will take you into another world, may be, if you find a topic that is passionate to your head or heart. Then you may find going short of time while you continue to be in the same environment. Analyzing a problem for possible solutions, review your talking points for the speech or presentation, selecting a gift for the next anniversary or planning anything are some examples.

(h) Learn to be Creative: - Boredom strikes when the environment is dull and the mind is empty. Why not then learn to utilize the time to think creatively. Creative thinking is unique to human beings and is hidden within everyone. I don’t mean to say that you will invent something while waiting at dentist’s with pain in your teeth. If you think the environment is boring because it lacks the quality and that your time is wasted, I am opining that creative thinking should be the remedy for you. You may have something distinctive about you. It may be related to your profession, hobby, writing, or cooking. Even you may think and find out doing day to day little things (like arranging dishes on the dining table) in an extraordinary way. This will bring joy to you and others as well.

(i) People also meditate! I would not have included meditation in the present article but for a recent event. During the last week of October, I was to go to Hyderabad from Delhi by the 7.20 PM flight of the Indian Airlines. But due to disruption of schedules of other flights, this Hyderabad flight was also delayed. It took off finally about 11 PM. I already had the boarding pass and after wandering here and there, I reclined to a seat inside the security area. Another person was in the adjoining seat. I heard him murmuring. Initially, I felt he want to talk to me. On observation, I found him chanting some mantra silently but occasionally it is little louder and audible. I left the seat after 15-20 minutes when the person was still chanting. When, later, I landed in Hyderabad airport, I found the same person. I just initiated a conversation with him to find out what was he doing. He was glad and straightforward. He said, he never finds boredom when waiting. He would mentally recite whole strotas (Sanskrit prayers from Hindu scriptures) or chant a particular mantra. You know, he said, it is one type of meditation. As I said, initially, I wanted to opine that the man, who can learn to think creatively, is the man from Boredom to Wisdom. But now, I say, it is one who can do Queue meditation!

C h e e r s ! M e r r y C h r i s t m a s !