IS LIFE BORING?
Whenever I hang out with some friends, the common topics on the table often start with the struggle everyday their lives have become.
People tell how frustrate their works are: a difficult boss, a stressful job, a non-stressful job, an unsatisfied salary, or annoyed customers.They express the endurance they have to take everyday and wait till they receive the payroll.
Then, they talk about how life would be better if they can pursue their dream jobs, or about how awesome their last vacation was and express their anticipation to the next one.
Eventually, the conversations escalate to more erotic topics like sex and substance. For some people, a great way to spend a free night out is to be wasted at the bar and have a chance to hook up with someone.
During these conversations, I often wonder myself ” IS LIFE BORING?”.
At the moment, I am working at a salad factory. I never dream of becoming a salad worker and never consider it as my career. Everyday, my task is to pack tons of salad bags into boxes and move them to the warehouse. Sometimes, I am transferred into the preparation part to trim thousands kilogram of salad before decontamination.
There is nothing special to talk about it and the salary is slightly above minimum wage. As some people might call, It is a true “dead end” job.
But “IS MY LIFE BORING?”. “NO” I gladly say.
Thanks to the practice of mindfulness, I can find the utmost joy even from the simplest tasks. For instance, I apply three methods of breathing, staying focus, and embracing the present moment to keep my attitude high both in and out of work.
KEEP TRACK OF MY BREATHING
The most essential method to be at the present moment is to revitalize the body. And by breathing in and out, we bring our awareness back to our own body to understand its needs and urges at times.
When I pack bags or cut the vegetable for 4 hours or more, it is really tiring.Thus, I try to re-focus my attention on my breath by counting each time I breathe in and out.For example, If I have felt any pain or my arms getting sore, I try to bring my awareness to the part that being uncomfortable and stay there a little while.
By harmonizing my mind and body, I understand the cause of the pain and adjust my movement to revitalize the troubled part. The result is that from the day I began to work, I never injured myself and stay fresh all the time.
STAY FOCUSING ON THE TASKS
When we are doing a same task over and over again, a reflex starts forming which makes us unconsciously do things without mind control. I have a question for you: Have you ever “day dreaming” at work? Does your face turn dull thinking about something else while you are simultaneously still doing your job as usual?
These actions are referred by Eckhart Tolle as “below thought actions”, or “zoning out” I may say.We think about different things while implementing the usual tasks, and it helps nothing but tiring us out while our mind and body do not function in a same level.
By mindfully breathing and refocusing on my body at first, I can concentrate on the tasks I am doing at the moment. Dwelling in those even simplest tasks, I found a deep joy and happiness of working and I believe this method can be applied for any job or anything in our daily life.
You never find boredom in the present moment because at this moment, you are only there for yourself and the tasks you are doing.
EMBRACE THE PRESENT MOMENT
As I stated before, by mindfully breathing and staying focus on my tasks, I do not have anymore time to wander around anything apart from my work. Inevitably though, thoughts come and surprisingly, sometimes I have some brilliant ideas for my professional job as my mind precludes useless thoughts.
I feel perfectly fine during my job hours as well as grateful whenever I have spare times to do other things: writing blogs, learning my professional in Content Marketing, practicing mindful meditation, going to events and talking to new people, and spending more time with my loved ones.
My point is, if you have a less stressful job, you still can be grateful because then you will have more time to do other things you want and spend more time with your family.
I see many people spend their limited time from work to do things as they think that to stay away from the reality : loosening themselves in bar, travelling, shopping, playing video games, or even doing sports, or going to the gym.
Don’t get me wrong here. Establishing a good routine habit is only good for you when you put your mind on it. If you go on holiday or go to the gym just for the sake of loosing yourself from the exhaustion of your workplace, it always comes back to haunt you afterwards. I call it the “holiday syndrome”- we feel worse coming back to work from a vacation.
That’s it. My life may not be exuberant as many people perceive. However, the fact that I feel fresh and ready at every moment is a great gift already. Remember, your body is not to blame when you feel exhausted or unable to keep up anymore, that’s just what your mind makes you think. By nurturing our own self and be at present, we can appreciate our lives at the fullest.
Be well. Be present.
Here is a GIF of Leslie Knope to boost your enthusiasm.
