The cure for boredom

One of the benefits of meditation for me is that I am never bored. I honestly can't remember the last time I have been bored. Probably when I was a child. Mindfulness training allows us to appreciate whatever is going on in the moment no matter what it is and, anyway, if there's honestly "nothing to do" we can always formally meditate.

Today I came across a little passage in Instant Calm by Paul Wilson about this very issue and it's entitled, "The Antidote to Boredom".

Boredom is one of life's most common stressors. When you are frustrated by the lack of anything satisfying to do, your tension levels escalate.

The antidote to this condition is exquisitely simple.

If you concentrate wholly on whatever you have to do - however mundane or meaningless it may appear - time flies and you derive satisfaction from your efforts.

If you immerse yourself totally in a task, so that you achieve the very best result you are capable of, you will find that task becomes almost like meditation in itself. (Indeed, this is the "Little Way" made famous by St. Therese of Lisieux.)

Not only is this the antidote to boredom, it is a sure way to become calm and relaxed.

St. Therese, who is also known as the "Little Flower", did indeed use focused, loving attention to mundane tasks as her spiritual practice. I often think of her in relation to walking meditation because when she was so ill with tuberculosis she would walk for the intention of the missions. I never really appreciated that until I had TB myself while I was in Africa. The disease renders one very nearly energy-less. The fatigue simply defies description. I remember it being almost more than I could bear just to lift my hand sometimes. So Therese's willingness to walk was, in reality, quite heroic. And she did it. And she paid attention to it. Lovingly.

Try walking meditation if you haven't for a while. Just walk and give relaxed attention to your walking. Try it from one side of the room to the next. And remember: we do walking meditation every day at the Center as part of our daily practice. We do 20 minutes of sitting, 5 minutes of walking, and then 20 minutes of sitting to give us a total of 45 minutes of meditation. Do come and join us soon. Again, those sessions are scheduled for 7:30 a.m. Monday - Friday, for 9:00 a.m. on Saturdays and for 5:30 p.m. on Sundays.