Boredom is one of the worst things that can happen to a person. You will be in a place where you will have nothing to excite you or motivate you, just the same boring routine every day. It is sickening. The human mind is designed to always be active, always be on the lookout for the next big rush, the next thing that will bring about much-needed excitement. And when that thing is absent, it will tell on the body, and the lack thereof will be very obvious. This is a feeling many of us are familiar with, because, at one point in our lives or the other, we have definitely been bored. We can’t always be hyper or bubbling with activities or ideas on what to do, there will always be a time when we would run out of things and our minds would be completely blank. That is when the boredom would set in. That is when people will basically resort o doing things that they normally would not do, just to fight the boredom. As they say, an idle mind is the devil’s workshop. A bored mind is not so different, because nothing is stopping that mind from looking for excitement and it will be willing to get it anywhere. And by any means necessary. The first time I truly felt boredom, was the only time it really got to me on a heightened level. I’m talking about the kind of boredom that will make you angry at everything and everyone. For no reason at all. This was shortly after my graduation from secondary school. Fresh out of school, I stayed at home while I waited for the next season so I would purchase JAMB forms and begin the hustle of getting into the university. I spent those long months at home, and to date, those have been the longest months of my life. Seeing as everyone else was either going to school or to work, I basically had the house to myself all the time. My friends lived far away, and we couldn’t visit as often as we could due to transport costs, so it was only once in a while that we saw each other. So I spent every day alone. Every morning while my family members were preparing to go out, I would be dreading the big empty house. And in the evening, when they returned, I would be happy as hell. The boredom was worse in the afternoon, that time when the sun was at its highest and its hottest. The kind of sun that could make a person pass out. Yeah, that kind. I would be safe in my room, but the heat would come there and deal with me. Outside, on the street, the ice cream man would be pushing his wares while playing that sickening tune. Or there will be some hawker selling children's books, carrying along a giant speaker that was reciting the states and capital. I literally had nothing to do. All I did was sleep, eat, wash plates, sleep, eat, wash plates… and the cycle went on like that. There was not much to do anyway. There was even a day I didn’t step a foot out of my room from the moment they left until they returned in the evening. We have a shelf of books, and that shelf has about five levels, about three of them are packed with novels. Another one is packed with textbooks and notebooks while one is packed with magazines. My dear friends, I read all the novels on that shelf, both the ones that were interesting and the ones that weren’t. There was even a book that had almost two thousand pages, took me the longest to read it. But I did. It was also during this period that I read the Holy Bible from cover to cover. Twice. That was when I realized that the Holy Book can be quite engrossing, and it has all the elements of a good story. From love to humor, violence, and betrayal, the bible had it all. And don’t get me started on the story arcs. Prior to that, I usually only read the bible in the church or during devotion, and it was only a few passages at a time. This time, I started from page one and continued on till I got to the final page. And I found that even if you read it a million times, it will always hit you differently every time. Anyway, the boredom was getting out of hand. I didn’t have anything else to read, no books, or magazines. I didn’t miss mid-week services in church, not because I was devout but because it was a reason to get out of the house. I was tired of watching TV, power was fair back then but I got tired of it after a while. There was basically nothing else I could do. And through all this, I didn’t work. Most of the available jobs were teaching, and nothing was going to make me become a teacher. I know the kind of trouble I gave my own teachers in school, if someone else did that to me I would probably bash their heads against the wall. So I stayed in my lane. It was during this time that I became more of an introvert and I learned how to find comfort in my own company. It was also when the idea of working from home started making sense to me. One thing I eventually found comfort in was the radio. The radio became my source of solace during my boredom. And it was not for the music, but for the talk shows. I got so conversant with the radio that I knew so many of them and their patterns by heart. In the morning, I would start with the news on Cool FM, then Wazobia, and finally Beat FM. By nine in the morning, Beat FM would have The Money Show (I think, not sure again), where they gave financial news and talked about money-making ventures. That was when I heard about Forex for the first time and it piqued my interest. After that, I spent my afternoons with Wazobia, and I started off the night with Wazobia as well and listened to Cool FM till midnight when I fell asleep. Back then, I always enjoyed listening to the intelligent talks between Do2dtun and Joyce Onyemuwa, they were my favorite OAPs at the time. I lived for their talk shows. That was how I was able to push through the boredom. It got better though because I also found comfort in TV. Every morning, I watched Moneyline with Nancy on AIT. I am no longer sure of these names, it’s been so long. I learned a lot during this time, and they have helped me to this very day. Eventually, I went to school in another state, so I left my precious radio stations behind. Back then, online radio was not really a thing. And I didn’t even have the data to use them. Soon, I forgot all about them because it took me about two to three years before I returned to Lagos. And when I did, I realized everything had changed. Most of the shows that had made me love radio so much had been changed, some of the OAPs were no longer present and I was just hearing strange voices pouring into my ear. I abandoned radio altogether after that. Well, my dear friends, that was all those years ago. Now, I have other ways of battling boredom. But I am now so busy doing things I love that it is difficult for me to be bored. I am usually too tired that when I have the spare time instead of me to be bored I’ll be too tired. Ever since that era of my life, I have not seen boredom like that. And I hope I don’t see. That period was a pivotal point of my life, and it is cogent in making me who I am today. Listening to all those talk shows and reading all those books and magazines opened my eyes to the world in a way it would never have if I had not been bored. So, I am grateful for that time. While I don’t wish to go through it again, it will always remain in my memory. And when I think about it, it will be with fondness because when I look at my life today, I can see the foundation in that boredom of years past. This post is inspired by the third topic for this week which is Boredom. Feel free to take part.
Andrea Piacquadio
Cotttonbro Studios
Coottonbro Studios
Lisa Fotios
Muhammad-taha Ibrahim
Ketut Subiyanto
Daniel Xavier
Thank you for reading. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below, I would love to know what you are thinking. Till we meet in the next post.
We all have that moments in our lives were we were placed face to face with boredom. During the right months strike I suffered mine and I had to go extra miles to escape it.
We had no choice, we either find a way to cope or it would mess with our minds in a way we won't like.
Thank you for reading.
Yes you are right. Everyone feels bored at one point or the other.
Thanks for sharing.
Yeah. It's how we handle it that matters.
Thank you for reading.
You are welcome
Boredom made me too fall in love with the news. After shs i was always at home and wanted something to cool me off. I used to like arguing a lot with my friends so the obvious distraction that could give ne info was the news. Now I don't Idolize it like that but from time to time I do read the news. But with me I was not too bored.
Now we are on vacation from school and Hive entertains me all the time. From morning I watch movies and then I take out time to explore hive and slowly I am getting a hang of it.
But i think you should have taking the teaching Job so that the kids will pay you back.🤣. Am sure at a point some of your teachers will wish you turn to a teacher so that the kids stress you like you did to them.🤣
Nah... teaching is not for me. I don't have the patience that job requires. I know myself.😂
Thank you for reading.
Sometimes boredom can be the birthplace of creativity and self-discovery
That is one way of looking at it.
Thank you for reading.