Bored is a choice.

"Being bored is a choice."
I can't even count how many times I have said this to my children in response to the "I'm bored." or "That's boring." comments that I hear on a regular basis from those residing in my household. They don't believe me or agree. In the minds of my children, boredom is a state that is forced upon them by external circumstances such as being forced to run errands or not being able to use screens (TV, computer, video games, etc.) I think that's baloney! Bored is a state of mind. It is something we choose. Even in the least stimulating of situations, our minds can take us anywhere we want. Often I hear my children utter the "I'm bored." statement in the midst of all kinds of activity. This tells me that they have their minds fixed on doing something else at that moment, therefore anything else, no matter how exciting, will be relegated to "boring" status.

This morning I stumbled upon an article that agrees with me titled, "It's Good to Be Bored." In it, the statement is made, "If you're bored, it's you're own fault...Boredom is our own responsibility because there is always something we can ponder, imagine, laugh at or pray about." The article goes on to say that Boredom is a blessing because it allows us to "Be still and know that I am God." as the bible entreats us to do(Psalm 46:10)

So, we should periodically turn off the screens and the noise and retreat from people and just allow ourselves to become just plain "bored" so that we can hear God's voice and be refreshed and rejuvenated. My daily life is filled with much chaos in our household of 8, and I find that if I don't wake up before my family and have some quiet time to be still, I can go crazy. This is when I find God and myself along the way.

It's not always easy to find some time to get away from all the activity, so I guess we should consider it a blessing when we find ourselves bored with the activity surrounding us and detach enough to have a moment to ponder and pray.