In Praise of Boredom
By David Leonhardt
Boooooring. Nothing ever seems to happen around here. Unless you
consider two-year-old Little Lady screaming "I want to do it
myself" for an hour this morning "something".
A quick look at the news tells me how much is happening
everywhere else. Just look at these headlines.
"Fresh violence rocks Kashmir" Imagine the thrill of
idealistically battling for human freedom against the Indian
tyrants. No, make that the Pakistani tyrants. No, that would be
the Indian tyrants. Wait a minute ... which tyrants are the good
guys in this skirmish?
"Typhoon hits south China" Wow! Picture battling a typhoon,
testing one's mettle against the ravages of Mother Nature,
fending off torrent after torrent of pounding water, fighting
just to keep one's footing and not be washed away into the gaping
sea. Oh the suspense is pure agony.
"North China Flood Death Toll Reaches 38" Feel the thrill of
negotiating the flooded landscape, keeping afloat, scavenging for
food, battling pillagers, rescuing stranded villagers, praying
just to survive one more day. The excitement is almost too much.
"Rain delays US Open" Imagine battling the worst "persistent
drizzle" Mother Nature can send your way, thrown into the
uncertain company of fellow celebrities, bravely escaping the
risk of playing a slippery court ... forced against your very
will to wait for the rain to stop, armed with nothing more than a
tennis racket. Now, that's adventure!
"Cruise Ship Struck by Virus" Imagine being one of the valiant
300 germ-fighters to heroically battle acute gastroenteritis
while crossing the unforgiving ocean in nothing more than a mere
70,000 ton cruise ship. The only viruses I battle have names
like "Klez" and "SoBig" and "Blaster".
The valiant knights of open-sea food poisoning faced combat in
Denmark, England, Ireland, Iceland and New York. Sa-ay... New
York is close to me. But I'm still stuck battling computer
viruses at my keyboard in Chesterville. Far from where all the
exciting headlines happen. Like in Iraq.
Iraqis have been able to battle a real tyrant for decades. They
have had the chance to evade torture chambers and persecution.
They have been given the chance to survive famine and disease.
Then came that once-in-a-lifetime moment of glory, when they rose
to the occasion to dodge bombs and missiles sent by invading
liberators.
After a few more years of combat against hunger and disease,
tyranny and violence, they rose to that once-in-a-lifetime chance
again.
Alas, all good things must come to an end. Liberation, even with
a missing tyrant snickering somewhere on the loose, means the end
of torture, famine and persecution. It means peace.
Not all Iraqis are taking peace lying down. Some are even willing
to resort to violence to protest against peace. So once again,
Iraqis have the golden opportunity to valiantly dodge bombs and
bravely evade persecution.
Life sure gets exciting in some places.
Meanwhile, Little Lady woke up in the middle of the night. She
did not want to go back to sleep in her room because "there are
monsters and doctors." Of course, the only monster she knows is
Cookie Monster. On the other hand, doctors can really be scary.
Especially when they give you needles. Particularly when you are
just two years old.
Hmm. Maybe boredom isn't so bad, after all. Call me an
underachiever, but somehow I get the feeling I stand a better
chance against "monsters and doctors" than I do against the evil
tyrants, typhoons, bombs and even life-threatening tennis-match
delays.
Did you ever hear that old Chinese curse: "May you live in
interesting times"? Well let me wish you this: "May boredom fill
your days."
RESOURCE BOX FOR PLAIN TEXT NEWSLETTERS
The author is David Leonhardt, The Happy Guy. To receive his
column weekly in your inbox, sign up at
http://TheHappyGuy.com/positive-thinking-free-ezine.html or read
more columns at
http://TheHappyGuy.com/self-actualization-articles.html . Visit his home page at
http://TheHappyGuy.com .
RESOURCE BOX FOR WEBSITES AND HTML NEWSLETTERS
The author is David Leonhardt, The Happy Guy. Read more columns
like this in his
http://TheHappyGuy.com/positive-thinking-free-ezine.html target="Personal growth">weekly Happy
Guy column or read more
http://TheHappyGuy.com/self-actualization-articles.html target="self-actualization and
personal growth"> personal growth articles. Visit his
website:
http://TheHappyGuy.com.html target="Find
happiness in life">Finding Happiness and Self-actualization.
RESOURCE BOX FOR PRINT PUBLICATIONS
The author is David Leonhardt, The Happy Guy, publisher of Your
Daily Dose of Happiness and The Happy Guy syndicated column.
Visit his web site at www.TheHappyGuy.com.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
David Leonhardt
The Happy Guy
Info@...
