Boredom is on the guestlist
“The road from effort to effortless makes through the tunnel
of boredom. Only some bore it well”
What is Boredom?
At the biochemical level, the body has a reward-punishment
mechanism. Upon the emergence of a thought or feeling or action that are in
certain zones, the body generates these chemicals. However when the person isn’t
challenged or things become super-predictable, there are tendencies developed
inside of us that give rise to feeling of boredom. It’s a feeling where the
sub-conscious sends a message to cognitive function that its not able apply
itself in meaningful manner.
“Vritti pravaha iti manaha” is a Sanskrit saying which when
looked deeply signifies the tendency of the mind to be in constant flow.
Flowing to several navigable realms. And when the flow stops yielding the
entertainment to the mind, it raises a flag of boredom. Imagine it like a joke…it
would deliver humor first time. Perhaps second time. But later it wouldn’t deliver
humor. Hence any more time would not yield response from the mind and it would
flag it as unentertaining. Similarly, the business of mind is to flow and be
entertained with different “rasas” …like the navarasas (nine basic emotions) of
sringar (beautifying), hasya (laughter), raudra (rage), karuna (compassion),
bibhatsam (disgust), bhayanakam (fear), adbhutam (surprise), veeram (heroic),
bhakti (devotion). Its easy to understand that when the mind doesn’t receive
any of these nine entertainment emotions, it sends a signal to go and seek
these instead of continuing with the status quo.
How can one overcome boredom?
Well the answer actually lies simply in applying slowly and
one-by-one, these nine rasas to whatever one is finding boring and sort of
supplement it with renewed entertainment.
For example:
1.
Sringar changes: Doing subtle changes in visual,
sound, taste, touch, smell around the things that you find boring. Playing with
a different colored ball. Putting music and playing the sport in a rhythm in
sync with the music, changing the grip/texture of the sports equipment used for
playing, wearing a specific fragrance or carrying some flowers during practice
and savoring them in between.2. Hasya changes: playing in a manner once in a while outside of set rules. Playing the sport in a manner that would be laughable. Mind you, these to be done with the pure intention of relaxing and not scoffing on any person or sport
3. Raudram changes: recall the defeat and reset for feat. Its important to revisit memories of losing in order to tell yourself that the same can only be reversed with hard work. “Sweat is a great paymaster”.
4. Karuna changes: The highest altitude of any passion is compassion. When one is thankful for the universe and people around who are orchestrating in synchrony to offer you this wonderful opportunity for practice, it should humble oneself. Developing compassion for the opportunity at hand is far more important than wasting it in feeling of boredom.
5. Bibhatsam changes: History is replete with examples of how some people were thwarted with disgust, who squandered opportunities by mere non-application of effort. Remember that disgust would stem from non-effort and never from sincere effort. So do not offer your services for disgust.
6. Bhayanakam changes: Fear has been one of the biggest drivers for the evolution of humans. Fear of extinction or loss or non-acceptance have produced people to rise in manners where the entire ocean of humanity has been uplifted constantly. However only a few survive the succumb to fear. Because fear is a very tough negotiator and has a history of better odds to win against humans. Do recall the fears if you feel you can befriend it and flourish.
7. Adbhutam changes: All of us love surprises. However in ancient wisdom, the emphasis is on deliberately looking for wonderment. Example: the wonder of gravity, the wonder of 50 trillion cells co-ordinating functions for you as an individual, the wonder of the different sounds of players, the turf, the sports equipment or props hitting the surfaces, the wonder of sport to exhibit prowess in non-violent manners.
8. Heroism changes: recall the charities or donations that you can do when you keep practicing and prepare for winning. Sometimes rising above self for the higher cause is itself a great motivator to negotiate boredom.
9. Bhakti changes: Reasons tire too after some time. This is where faith holds your finger. For all things rational in the world, there are a lot many that we just do because we believe in it. Many a times, the rational mind summons a change. However, the belief and unyielding conviction can tread many many miles. Devotion to effort, humility and fair play is the true bhakti to anything one does.
In fact, greatness doesn’t lie only in doing things
differently, it actually lies also in building character by doing same things
over and over and over again and testing the attention and performance when its
not entertaining anymore. Great Wisdom traditions have laid emphasis on being
able to manage alertness even in the myriadly repetitive tasks.
“It’s the character that makes practice perfect”.
Comments
Post a Comment