3 REASONS TO KNOW YOU’RE BORED AND WHY YOU SHOULD DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT WITH YOUR LIFE

REASON #1 – YOU HAVEN’T HAD SUSTAINED EXCITEMENT ABOUT SOMETHING IN A LONG TIME 

You can’t remember the last time something excited you every day.  When someone asks you what’s new, you answer, “Eh”, “Nothing”, “Not much”, or worse, “Same old, same old.”

You feel every day is the same day.  The things you look forward to are for your work day to end, the weekend, your favorite tv show, and what you’re going to have for dinner.

You do the same things with your friends.  You go to the same places week after week.  You probably are complaining about the same things.

Is this all there is to Life?

No.  But are things painful enough emotionally and mentally for you to make a substantive change to your life?  There is still hope for you.

REASON #2 – BOREDOM IS NOT THE SAME THING AS FEELING ALIVE

Feeling alive in Life requires excitement, passion and joy.  To create that excitement and joy, you have to find a why - something that interests and motivates you.  It’s a good start if you’re motivated to help you.  It’s better if you’re motivated to help you and others as well.

You can and will find what excites you with enough reflection and action.

This requires a certain amount of self-reflection.  If you can’t figure out what interests you, keep thinking and exploring.  If you’re not motivated to take action, know that the more everything feels the same, the more your situation is like depression.

“Most people fall between [being] able to amuse ourselves but from time to time itching for something new from the outside world. Our data suggest that people who rely heavily on external stimulation and fail to secure sufficient amounts of it are more likely to also report symptoms of depression.” (Scientific American Mind July/August 2013)

Depression drops the production of serotonin which affects feelings of happiness, regulating aging, bone mass, and organ health including blood pressure and insulin production.

Depression is associated with heart attacks, Parkinson’s Disease, autoimmune diseases including multiple schlerosis and lupus, strokes and cancer. Diabetes, kidney disease and arthritis.

You can continue to do the same things that bore you, but what’s the long-term risk of doing so?

REASON #3 – “IF YOU’RE NOT GROWING, YOU’RE DYING; NEUTRALITY IS THE SAME AS FAILURE”

In life, all living things are either growing or dying.  Growth has only one direction.  Death has only one direction.  When things are in neutral, when things feel the same, stagnant and boring, it’s not the same feeling and direction as growth.  In other words, if you’re not growing, you’re dying.

When you are bored or depressed, the body starts to decay, shut down, and diseases begin to appear. 

“In a recent British study, epidemiologists Annie Britton and Martin Shipley of University College London examined data collected from civil servants for self-reported boredom and several cardiac risk factors. The civil servants were first assessed in the 1970s on a range of topics, including job satisfaction and boredom. In a follow-up in 2010 they found that those people who reported more ennui were more likely to die younger and to experience cardiac health issues. Literally, people were being bored to death.” (Scientific American Mind July/August 2013)

Traditional martial arts training is a continuous process of self-awareness, taking action and understanding a deeper level as to what movements do and how they work for self-defense and to heal the body.

The study of martial arts is the same as the study of one’s self.  You have to better understand your mind and body to understand martial arts.  By extension, you start to better understand others and Life.  Martial arts requires action and you are trained to take action, not only against a physical attacker, but on the things and situations that literally attack your life such as negative thinking, boredom, and disease.

On a simplistic level, the easiest medicine for depression and boredom is to take action.  You want the proverbial scenery to change.  You want to feel you’re accomplishing new goals through new challenges.

On the other extreme end from boredom, you feel that everything in your life is purposeful, meaningful, important and valuable.  You do things that make you feel better and, by extension, make others feel better.  Any person who are above average in their accomplishments share this feeling about their Life.

Kind regards,

Bob Lee

Head Instructor

3rd Degree Black Belt

http://www.bodymindsystems.com/mental-strength.html

 Questions about how martial arts training? Email bob.lee@bodymindsystems.com