The earthly lessons I am talking
about can help us create heaven on earth, because we are part of
earth. We came out of the earth. To survive, we eat food produced by
the earth. We breath the air, processed by the plants on earth.
Elements of the earth such as iron, calcium, magnesium, oxygen,
hydrogen nitrogen..they are all in us. Earth is 70 percent water. Our
bodies are 70 percent water.
So if we follow the rules and rhythms
of mother earth, we will be happier children; not frustrated kids
fighting with each other. We talked about three lessons. Today's
lesson, lesson number six is: Celebrate same old same old or Enjoy
Boredom
It makes no sense, at least at the
outset. I am telling you to enjoy boredom. I am telling you to
appreciate same old same old stuff. It is a counter intuitive
message. It's just the opposite of what the world tells you. The
world hates boredom. In fact it will do all it can to avoid it. But
hear me out. I will explain to you how to enjoy the so called
sameness of the earth and still find joy in it.
What is boredom? Boredom is apathy,
lethargy, lack of interest in anything, lack of excitement, a feeling
of same old same old. We don't like it; we can't stand it. So what do
we do? We do everything to get out of it.
One survey reports that 54% of all Americans go to work primarily
to escape the boredom of life at home. And 70% of American teenagers
say they are bored with school. The survey also reported that 25% of
teenagers said they got drunk on the weekend because they were so
bored. Teenagers get easily bored and they do all kinds of crazy
things to deal with it.
During the spring break this year, a group of teenagers in Lauderhill decided to vandalize the apartments in the neighborhood. One of the victims was a nurse on my hospice team. They broke in, stole her TV, and damaged the bed room by breaking furniture and lamps. When they were arrested, the reason given for their behavior: we were bored.
Boredom is a combination of weariness, listlessness, and unconcern that causes a person to feel like doing nothing or doing something destructive. You can be so bored and drink too much. Or gamble too much. Or smoke too much.
We see this in relationships as people go from one person to another looking for the perfect mate. There is no perfect mate out there. Marriage is a union of two imperfect people trying to make a perfect union, patiently dealing with the drudgery and monotony of the daily grind. It is hard work and that is why these days, young people don't want to make a commitment. They don't have the patience and diligence required to appreciate the seeming monotony of being with the same person. (Monogamy is monotonous for them)
We also see it when people hop from one job to another, hoping to find the perfect fit.
People move from one city to the other hoping that life will be better in the new place only to find out after a few months, it is the same stuff again. Lot of people don't attend church on a regular basis, because they say church is boring.
It is human nature to look for adventure and excitement. We get easily bored by monotonous schedules and ordinary routines. Nobody revels in repetition and so we relentlessly request relief from redundancy.
Advertisers prey on our tendency to get bored when they urge us to buy more, buy new, buy now. That is why people go shopping to buy things they don't need. They think the new gadget is going to make them happy. They buy clothes they really don't need, only to realize that the new has become old in a few weeks.
Some people replace their good working phones every year. There is nothing wrong with the I phone 5, but I am bored with it. I need the I phone 6. Or I have become so bored with the Samsung Galaxy S6 and I need to buy the Galaxy S7 edge. I need a new car. There is nothing wrong with my car, but I am bored driving it.
In our country, about 50 percent of married people get rid of their spouses and replace them with new partners, only to find out in a few years, the painful fact that, there is nothing new under the sun, after all. There is very little perseverance and maturity to discover the newness of the old.
We think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. But we don't have the wisdom to realize that the grass is greener where you water it. As we look for constant drama in our lives, the predictable becomes unpalatable.
Let us face it. Most of life is routine, boring, predictable stuff. We have to get up every day and do certain routine stuff. Go to the bathroom, wash your face, brush your teeth, take a shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, go to work, come home, watch TV, eat dinner, watch some more TV, go to bed, get up in the morning and repeat steps one to nine again.
Don't get discouraged. Don't be in a hurry to bring excitement into life. Get used to the boring routines of life. Appreciate the stability. Keep on doing the same thing over and over and learn to experience the newness of the old. That is what the earth does. As inhabitants of this earth, we are expected to do the same. Fighting against it is only going to make us miserable.
The book of Ecclesiastes says:
All things are wearisome; more than one can say. What has been will be again. There is nothing new under the sun. (1: 3-9)
As the holy book says, the earth’s routine is pretty predictable. It goes around in the same orbit, with the same speed every day. It doesn’t change speed and say, yesterday, I was going too slow, let me put the gas to the pedal and speed up. We see young people doing it with their cars and often get into accidents killing themselves and sometimes others too. The earth doesn't do that. It is the same boring speed every day, for millions of years.
The earth doesn't get bored and say, “It is the same route every day; I need to change the orbit today. need a to take more scenic route. If it does that, life as we know it will be over. If the orbit gets one inch closer to the sun, we will be incinerated. If it goes one inch away from the sun, we will be frozen. It has to keep the same steady path, day after dad, year after year.
Grass grows in wet grounds, plants take in carbon dioxide and give out oxygen; ripened leaves fall to the ground and disintegrate; fish always swim in the water; night falls as predicted and day breaks in as anticipated. No surprises; nothing out of the ordinary, just the same old boring stuff, day after day, year after year.
So how do we get respite from the repetitions? How to find excitement in ordinary day to day realities of life? How do we find newness in the old? How do we stay faithful in our faith when there are so many challenges to our faith all around? How do we keep on going to church Sunday after Sunday, when all you hear is the message, church is boring?
In his book stumbling on Happiness, psychologist, Daniel Gilbert says:
“Wonderful things are especially wonderful the first time they happen, but their wonderfulness wanes with repetition.”
What he reminds us is that, true and lasting wonder needs to be renewed regularly, even daily.
Otherwise, life's inevitable formula will be be: “WonderFULL is followed by wonder- half full, which is followed by wonder-quarterfull, which quickly becomes wonder-less.”
If you want to make your life happy everyday, instead of a lethargic existence, you must take preventive action. Otherwise you will end up as a wonder-less wanderer and life will cease to be joyful adventure.
The preventive action I am talking about is called mindful living, or mindfulness. If you want to live joyfully, in the midst of mundane, routine stuff, you have to have the stability, routine, patience and perseverance of mother earth. You can't afford to be fickle and flimsy. You will end up frazzled and frustrated with life.
A bored person is usually a superficial person. They focus on the external. They pay attention to the outside. One of the best ways to bounce back from boredom is to spend quiet time with yourself.
Spend 30 minutes a day in silent meditation, and your life will perk up. When you meditate you are focusing on the inside. Just focus on your breath and be thankful that you can breathe.
On average, a person at rest takes about 16 breaths per minute. That means we take about 960 breaths an hour, 23,040 breaths a day, 8,409,600 a year.
Of course we don't count them. We don't notice them. We take it for granted. Same old same old...until we lose the ability to breath...then it is not same old any more.
I have several patients on oxygen. The oxygen tank is always humming in the room. They don't have the freedom to walk around because wherever they go, they have to take the tank with them.
One day I asked a patient: If I had a magic wand grant you just one wish, what would it be? And she said: I wish I could breathe...that is all she wanted. Didn't want money, a luxury car or expensive vacations. Nothing. Just breathe freely.
We usually appreciate the value of something that is steady, predictable and boring, only when we lose it.
Let us say you feel bored, depressed and sad and you go for your annual the physical; another boring routine right? Imagine the doctor tells you that you have cancer. Instantly, you will wish that you could get your old boring life back.
You will appreciate the value of something you take for granted, only when you lose it.
Protestant theologian Samuel Miller wrote:
“In the muddled mess of this world, in the lethargy and the boredom, we ought to be able to spot something—an event, a person, a memory, an act, a turning of the leaves, the flight of a bird, the waging tail of a dog, the weariness of the weak, a ray of light coming thru a cracked window, the faint sound of the falling rain—something, where we ought to pick out a glory to celebrate.”
Everyday, we ought to pick out a glory to celebrate...
And there is plenty to pick...if we have eyes to see them!
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