BOREDOM

FROM FORETHOUGHT
MONTREAL TRUST

The Self-Inflicted Disease.

A comment that cought our eye recently goes: "In a world that has become a veritable cornucopia of things to do, to see, to read, to think about, never have so many people been so bored".

Probably the saddest thing about boredom aside from the fact that it is invariably self-inflicted, is that the sufferer must endure his illness without sympathy: few people want to share the company of one who is bored.

There is no simple antidote for rules that can help you when you feel yourself sliding into the deadly slough of ennue:

(a) If you really care about other people, you can never be bored. When you care, you give of yourself and the rewards of giving are by themselves a cure for boredom:

(b) Often boredom is a simple matter of stagnation, a reluctance to expose oneself to new people, new experiences, new horizons. A little bravery can win great battles in this area.

(c) When learning stops, boredom walks in the door. Mental muscles require exercise just as much as physical muscles do. This doesn't necessarily involve the working toward a Ph.D., but it does involve the pursuit of knowledge with some degree of enthusiasm:

(d) Finally, many psychologists agree that one primary cause of boredom today is the great availability of passive entertainment and the ease with which people slip into the habit of watching, of listening to life instead of participating in in it, instead of living it.

FORETHOUGHT
MONTREAL TRUST.

Don says: I try to escape boredom since it is frankly "boring". In my personal life I do the following:

1. Go to church every Sunday: it is stimulating to mentally disagree with the holy men and mull upon my spiritual existance.

2. I volunteer at the hospital. It helps me to realize that I have a wonderful life compared to some.

3. I spend hours on my blog - It is amazing how much I see of my past in this treatise on Alcoholism. 4. My wife and I travel as much as we can afford. This is made possible by my being in retirement.

5. I spend many hours reading, and watching good television;

6. My wife and I spend many warm months reenacting with a group of Civil War (American), and 1812 (British) reenactors. This includes tenting, cooking meals on the fire, and fighting the bugs. When I get home we really appreciate our warm bed!

In total, we exercise both mind and bodies, and are never bored. Boredom is the enemy and alcoholism lies not far behind for me.