What Is Dangerous About Boredom?
When boredom settles in, it’s time to change up your routine.
What Is Dangerous About Being Bored?
Boredom happens to the best of us, but this seemingly innocuous state of being can be dangerous to our growth. Instead of bemoaning this feeling, we can begin to use it as a signal to get moving. There is a two-step process that is simple to use and is a surefire way out of boredom. It involves cultivating gratitude and igniting our curiosity. Once applied, these two things will have us back on track, growing in the direction of our dreams.
Wake up, get dressed, go to work, come home, eat, sleep, repeat.
Sure, this is a little generalized, but it’s pretty much everyone’s standard routine. Routines are a necessary part of life, a structure that allows us to explore, expand, and build. They’re also boring.
Goals get set, and then they’re met, we celebrate, we revel in the joy of success, and then inevitably end up asking, “what’s next?” What fulfilled us last year no longer fulfills us today. This is human nature, we are built to seek and transform, and while boredom happens from time-to-time, it can be treated for what it is: a signal that we are doing neither of those things.
Boredom is a big, red flag. Its presence inhibits us from seeing opportunities, it blinds us to our blessings, and it tricks us into thinking that because we’re comfortable, we’ve arrived. We’re never truly finished, though, which is why when boredom settles in, it’s time to change up that routine. Here are two steps to get you started.
Step One: Reignite Gratitude
Put simply, boredom is a symptom of lacking appreciation for our inherent potential, our gifts, and our ability to effect change in our lives and in the world. This isn’t about self-judgment or criticism. It’s about having awareness and using that awareness to create a game plan. Start an appreciation practice by spending your morning thinking of at least five things that you appreciate. Your family, your health, your morning coffee, the peaceful walk to work. This simple practice is known as “priming” and can have a profound positive effect on our thoughts and help us to elevate our attitude throughout the whole day.
Step Two: Get Curious
Asking questions is a surefire way out of boredom because getting curious ignites a sense of creativity and wonder in our consciousness. The world is brimming with things to explore, and even the most mundane of tasks can become transcendent when we get curious about them. So start asking a lot of questions. If we are moved by the presence of a hummingbird, we can read about them. If we notice that we’re surrounded by dragonflies, we can research their spiritual significance.
What daydream does it evoke? How can it help us shake up our stagnant energy?
My husband, Michael Berg, has said, “Dullness and boredom come from unmet or abandoned potential.” This two-step process connects us back to that potential. When we use it to focus on our long-term goals and the things we want to change, magic happens. As we distill our purpose, we can start with what we appreciate and then get curious about what we want to create and how we want to give. When we set an intention to share with others in meaningful ways, not only have we thwarted boredom, but we have also found exactly what we need to live an exciting and expansive life.
Think of boredom as an invitation to discovery finding, or even returning to, what we are most passionate about. Look around with open eyes and an open heart. Let boredom lead the way to an expansive life worth living.
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About the Author
Monica Berg is a teacher and writer who specializes in assisting people in living their most fulfilled lives through the wisdom of Kabbalah. She is the author of Fear Is Not an Option and serves as Chief Communications Officer for Kabbalah Centre International. Follow her weekly blog at rethinklife.today and stay in touch via Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
