Boring, Boring, Boring
There is an ad for home maintenance services on Global News at 6 that encourages homeowners to turn the boring home-care jobs over to a professional company. The implication of the ad is, “Get rid of the boring so you can do what is interesting.” Boredom, boring, bored – Words that strip life of meaning and dull our sense of purpose. Come on a journey with me as I explore the phenomena of boredom.
First let’s try to define the word. Merriam Webster dictionary describes boredom as “the state of being weary and restless through lack of interest.” I would like to suggest that boredom comes when the capacity within me is not released into the circumstance around me. In other words, there is a disconnect between “what turns my crank”, my skills, or my dream and the reality of my life.
There are therapists who suggest that those who constantly struggle with boredom may be trying to mask emotional pain and thus they are unaware to their true wants and needs. It has been thought they may be under-stimulated or trying to navigate their way through procrastination and anxiety.
The above may be true. Personally, I have found two other villains at the root of boredom — pride and entitlement.
Pride — This is basically a high view of myself and a low view of those around me. This lofty view of myself causes me to look with disdain on those tasks which are beneath my dignity. “Cleaning toilets, changing diapers, putting out garbage, washing windows, mowing the lawn, et al, is a job for those of lower ability than mine. It is a misuse of my time to engage in such menial, mindless tasks.”
Entitlement — “I deserve to be promoted. I should be given a position that will allow my brilliance to shine. Anyone can polish shoes but only a few have the skill set that I possess. If the owner really knew my potential, he wouldn’t ask me to perform such menial tasks.” Entitlement is about me, my potential and what makes me look good.
On the positive side, boredom has the capacity to spark creative ideas and launch new projects. If you have the potential you say you have and you apply 100 percent of that skill to the task at hand, there is the possibility that creative ideas will emerge. My mother had a doctor’s appointment. Before leaving she pointed to four LARGE sacks of unshelled peas. She said, “You can work on shelling those peas while I am gone.” As I worked on the laborious task of getting the peas out of the pea pods, my eyes lighted on the wringer wash machine that was in the corner of the porch. An idea emerged. What if I split open one end of the pea pod, loosened the pressure on the wringers, and then fed the peas through the wringers, would the job go faster. The idea worked marvelously and to my mom’s amazement, all the peas were shelled by the time she got home. I must add that she was not impressed with the fact that I had used her machine without her permission. I did assure her that bleach had removed the green stain from the rollers.
Boredom has the capacity of leading us to new ideas and creativity. It can fuel the search for new goals and new adventures.
Our Creator reminds us that the person who wants to be greatest must become the servant. The true servant puts everything he has into fulfilling the task at hand. He discovers the goals of the person he is serving and why those goals are important. He discovers how his part fits into the whole picture of the owner’s world. His pursuit of knowledge with understanding gives him wisdom. Wisdom is the ability to put the right piece in the right place at the right time for the right purpose. That makes the worker an asset to the owner. That is the kind of men that owners like to promote.
Eradicate boredom from your vocabulary. Turn the menial into a path of success and I will meet you at the top.
Duane Harder
