Senior to Senior: Boredom

Admit it. The pandemic will either bring out the best or the worst in you. The trick is to not let boredom take control of your life. Boredom isn’t unusual; a temporary case of the blahs or a full blown “sinking spell” can hit at any time. Philosophers, scientists, and psychologist have been studying boredom for a very long time, but nobody understood boredom like our mothers. In our day, such as it was, mothers knew best, and boredom was not an option. Mother would say, “use your imagination” or “the whole world is out there for you to explore,” or the dreaded words “if you can’t find something to do, I will find something for you.” That usually did the trick; you would scurry off to find something to do, because mother meant business. Her other famous saying was, “boredom is within yourself and only you can do something about it.” Hmmm. Smart lady, and all this before psychology was even a discipline. Before going down memory lane, stop and think about how soldiers imprisoned during war time, or others who have been incarcerated for whatever reason, managed to stay alive. It makes whining about being bored sound rather pithy doesn’t it? While boredom itself is not dangerous. It can trigger a plethora of harmful behaviors. There is no quick fix, but recognizing it for what it is will give you a heads up. Use your dissatisfaction productively: • Keep up with the latest happenings; you are never too old to learn new things. • Get involved with life. Think of just one thing you can do to improve yourself (job, life, relationships or intellectual stimulation). • Be open minded. Read and listen to everybody and everything. • Trouble shoot; figure out what it is that is boring you, and your take steps to do something about it. People respond to boredom in different ways; some find new interests while others turn to overeating or binge-watching mindless television. Will you spiral out of control or will you be inspired to do great things? Embrace your boredom; make it work for you