I hardly know people (meaning adults) who have too much spare time on their hands. Very often life is full of to-dos and projects, people you want to meet and things that need to get done. It can sometimes become hectic. Despite the hustle and bustle of daily life that surrounds me, I sometimes catch myself being bored by my own thoughts or doing the same thing over and over again. I am sure you also recognize those moments: You are having coffee with a friend and your mind wanders off to your grocery list or which movie you want to see next instead of listening to your friend who you haven’t seen in a while.

A big part of my work is dedicated to teaching people the ability to differentiate between areas that are within your own influence and things that are not. When it comes to boredom, you also have two choices: You can resign and say ‘Life is like this.’ and remain indifferent. Or you can start paying attention to yourself and what you have contributed to this state of being bored. You can see it as a warning sign to wake you up and remind you that life has more to offer. You can use it as an engine to dare and try something new, to ask a question that has been burning on your mind. Taking such steps will make life more interesting, as you do not know how life will respond.

In the last years, I have made it a practice to do the latter. I have started to use these paradox moments of boredom as an indicator. I ask myself questions to be able to refocus on what is important to me in this moment. And the list goes like this:

We get bored, we are not in the present moment.
Life is not boring. Ergo: when I am bored, I could ask myself what I am doing to make it boring. Even if there is not a lot happening, like sitting in a park enjoying the first sunny hours of Spring, this is not boring. It’s enjoyable. I watch the passers-by and feel connected. If you are in the moment, life is interesting. When we get bored, we don’t allow new things to happen.

As always, I would like to invite you to make up your own mind about the subject of boredom.  Try to catch moments of boredom and ask yourself the above questions. What are our thoughts on this topic? How have you related to it so far and what could you learn from boredom? Please share your thoughts and insights in the comment box below.

Just reading or knowing things has, at least for me, never really allowed for real change. Change happens when you make it your own and integrate it into your life. You can talk about it, try a few things, play around with it and see if it adds value to our life.

If you would like to get out of your boredom trap, this month I offer free 10-minute calls or Skypes where I will give you my fresh perspective on the issue and how you can use somatic awareness as a compass to your individual solution. If you are interested, send me an email and I will get back to you.

• Why am I not fully invested in this moment?

• Is there a burning question I am not asking?

• Am I not interested in spending time with this person or on this task?

• Should I be doing something else?

• Am I avoiding something?