Sunday, October 22, 2000		Article

Ways to beat boredom
By Dharmendra Rataul

INSPITE of increasing variety in our lives and multiple sources of entertainment, we are bored. Various efforts to beat boredom have failed and it has emerged as a serious problem of our times.

Boredom affects everybody, regardless of the age of the person. Prolonged boredom leads to the serious consequences, at times causing serious psychological disorders. Outbursts of violence, aggression, revolt and tensions within the family are some of the complications that boredom can cause. Psychiatrists define the boredom as withdrawal from one’s surroundings and refusal to participate.

In the layman’s terms boredom can be described as a state of apathy and unhappiness, a sense of emptiness and dissatisfaction. A bored person adopts the ‘I am not involved’ attitude and shows no inclination to act.

The reasons for the increasing boredom in our lives is that we have become more demanding. Now everything is available in abundance to us, even entertainment. During the old times entertainment was available once in a while but now too much entertainment has left us bored.

Besides entertainment, various measures can be taken to beat boredom by making a few changes in our lifestyle, we can beat the menace of boredom to a great extent.

Diversify your interest. The best method to beat the boredom is to take a break from your routine. Taking interest in different areas and being involved in activities delinked from our routine can end boredom.

Accept the fact that life is not an unending series of happy moments. It has been observed that we always seek happiness and whenever we come across some obstacles, we get bored. In our continuous pursuit of pleasures we refuse to accept challenges. We must accept the fact that some amount of unhappiness in life is inevitable. So, learn to enjoy pleasures as gifts from God and face challenges bravely. Countering difficult moments is the real adventure of life.

Take a few moments out of your schedule to do something for the handicapped and under privileged. This will give you a feeling of satisfaction and fulfilment. Working with the handicapped and devoting time to the elderly and lonely people will give you intense pleasures as you will be helping the neglected section of our society.

Undertake regular physical activity. People who work in ffices are generally the most bored. Continuously sitting at one place doing the routine work makes one’s life monotonous. Indulge in some physical activity such as a morning or a evening walk regularly.

Get involved with the world around you. This is the real key to living positively. Get involved with the happenings in your surroundings. Respond to the beauty, admire anything positive going on, appreciate nature’s creations, take part in social gatherings, including seminars, conferences, flower shows, theatre plays etc.