According to Richard Rohr, one of my favorite writers, the word "idiot," originating in the Greek language, defines someone so wrapped up in himself that they're oblivious to all that's going on around them. Everything revolves around themselves... Sounds a lot like folks you and I have met, and maybe have been, at times, doesn't it?
But to associate boredom with idiocy is a school of thought from one of the most beautiful heads to ever have adorned a movie screen. A few years ago, when I was still watching TV, I caught Salma Hayes (the gorgeous Latin actress featured in "Fools Rush In" and others flicks...) on Oprah. And she proudly proclaimed there before the whole world that her mother always taught her that only idiots get bored.
That was a philosophy worthy of adopting for my own, because I could only wholeheartedly agree.
It's so true because there's so much to do if one only looks around, that one really has to be an idiot, stuck on himself & oblivious of the world around them, in order to get bored.
The sad thing is that there are a lot of things folks won't "feel like" doing, & they get bored because they limit the options to only things that minister to their own egos, preferably some fun activity requiring the least effort of their own, something to consume... gimme, gimme, gimme!
Sounds familiar? You've probably seen or experienced what I'm talking about.
Now, how do you change that? How do you teach yourself or someone else not to be a disgusting, spoiled, pampered & selfish brat, and to look out at the world instead, to behold the multitudes of things you could possibly do - not necessarily for yourself, but for someone else?
One thing I found out that helps is to first of all reduce the input that only feeds the selfish glutton in us even more. For example, stop watching and imitating selfish idiots on TV! I stopped watching TV 4 months after 9/11 (2001), because that's when I realized you couldn't even believe the news anymore, so why keep torturing myself & zapping myself into a coma until 4 A.M.?
It's been 2 1/2 years since then, and I've gradually come back to life again. Also, take my advice, folks, if you want to stop feeling bad about not getting anything rigged up, stop smoking weed. The art is not committing yourself into any artificially induced stupor and still not get bored!
So, once you have managed to change your focus - away from those zombies on TV, away from yourself, and you start looking around for things you can do, either just because they ought to get done, or because you know someone else will be happy about it, you'll see that boredom will be a thing of the past.
You'll just have to determine you're going to stop being a pampered little "king," "queen," "prince" or "princess" & learn a little from the King of kings, Who gave the perfect example of how to be really great by serving others. Right. Not being a bored idiot also includes putting your pride on the backburner. To some people, who haven't yet caught the drift, pride is still some kind of virtue, but if pride is a virtue, it's about as useful as a brain tumor... But that's a whole nuther subject I might perhaps expound on some other time...
In the meantime, take it to heart, people, ban the line, "I'm bored" from your vocabulary, or at least be honest enough to openly label yourself "idiot." If you don't take it from me, take it from one of the most gorgeous women on the planet. Salma, you tops!
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