My view on boredom has changed significantly over the years. I remember when I was in my 20s, I would quite easily get bored and turn to computer games, apps, and binge-watching series online as a way to distract myself and deal with what I saw as boredom.
When I came across the Three Principles, as first articulated by Sidney Banks, I started to see that boredom in and of itself was a thought. And the thought of boredom is what creates the feeling of boredom.
This was a game changer because the implications were I needed to do something to distract myself. But instead, recognise a thought for what it was just a thought. What comes out of this recognition is being more present in the moment and getting interested in what’s going on around.
When I look back to my 20s and all that time I have been trying to distract myself, right in front of me was a lot going on. My grandma was living with us and she has some fascinating stories about her life from growing up. My mom and dad are not just these parents, but human beings that I could spend hours talking to these days. My siblings are incredible people and I enjoy their company now more than ever.
And all these things were available to me, except I didn’t realise that the feeling of boredom was nothing that I needed to manage or handle. So if you want to deal with boredom, realise what it is and then get interested in other people.
Now you might find yourself asking, but what if the people around me are not interesting? And I would invite you to really see if that’s true because even that is a thought. We cannot label someone as interesting or uninteresting, except via thinking.
What’s always fascinating to me is if I think something about someone, there will be someone else who will think the exact opposite about that same person, no matter what it is that I think. If you reflect on your own life around people who you may have labelled, you will see that there are people in their lives who will label them as something completely different.
So before you’re too quick to label someone as uninteresting, perhaps put that thought to one side and get curious. You might be surprised by what you find.
With love and appreciation,
Ankush Jain
Coach and Author of Sweet Sharing – Rediscovering the REAL You
