A calm mind can be had during pandemic or pandemonium. This GenuLines list of tips can help guide you through rough waters.
Check out the list then listen to an explanation by clicking on here.
Be well!
JohnK 11-2-2020
Tag Archive for pandemic
5 Consequences of Chronic Boredom
Medical experts call boredom the ‘disease of our time”. This is especially true during times of pandemic and quarantine.
5 Consequences of Chronic Boredom
It’s not just for children anymore. Everyone suffers from it.
It used to be temporary for the most part. You couldn’t wait for the lecture to be over.
Or for your turn to see the doctor. It’s boredom, and it can turn serious.
Boredom is a chronic disease, and why not? You’re bombarded with an endless array of stimuli every waking moment.
We’re used to constant information flow when we awake. We’re expected to take it all in, 
and we do.
and we do.We’ve stopped interacting and engaging. So, we get bored.
German psychologist, Theodor Lipps, described boredom as ” a feeling of unpleasant arising out of a conflict between a need for intense mental activity and lack of incitement to it, or inability to be incited.”
This can mean different things to different people. An introvert, might find pleasure between the pages of a book or any other type of solitary activity.
But an extrovert may want more excitement as well as more social encounters.
You Do You
No matter the personality type, there’s a correlation between boredom and self-awareness. Let’s say you have a clear idea of your strengths, weaknesses, motivations and beliefs.
And you’re comfortable in your own skin. You’re now better prepared with the tools required to make yourself less bored.
You can gauge your moods and feelings, and understand what it is you want out of life. It also better prepares you to deal with others, and respond accordingly.
But having a clear understanding of your personality can be a real problem. The world is at our fingertips 24/7.
The idea that we can turn off the noise for a few seconds is now a foreign concept.
No one wants to sit there and do nothing! Adults fixate on playing games or browsing through their social media.
Downtime can be scary!
But it’s in those moments where we really feel our presence, tune in to our thoughts, and get in touch with our feelings. It’s also when we are at our most imaginative and creative.
It’s how we evolve, discover and invent.
Chronic boredom can make it easy to leave you in a rut of negative habits. You feel powerless to finish tasks.
This puts a damper on the quality of your life, and exacerbates physical pain. It comes with a slew of negative ramifications, the 5 most common are:
• Obesity
Constant snacking minus real hunger could be a case of boredom. This often involves foods high in processed fats and sugars.
These make you feel calmer and happier. Dieticians refer to this as emotional eating, which is often brought on by boredom.
• Depression
Boredom can be a symptom of depression, and it can also trigger it.
Working long hours. Stressful work or home environments. Less than challenging jobs.
These can ramp up stress and lead to deep bouts of depression.
• Stress and anxiety
Living day to day in an environment that doesn’t give you what you need can lead to emotional exhaustion. Top that with a helping of work responsibilities and financial strain.
This is the perfect recipe for chronic stress triggered by boredom and redundancy.
• Alcohol and drug abuse
In an attempt to break through the boredom spells, it’s common to find people reaching for alcohol and drugs. Of course these can have an addictive effect.
But in the moment, all people see is how they allow them to forget. They’re forgetting the aggravating effects boredom has on their lives.
• Heart disease
When boredom is the rule, your brain releases toxic hormones into your bloodstream. These hormones create problems for your heart.
Moreover, chronic boredom sufferers tend to skip exercise and eating right. In fact, they’re more likely to turn to bad habits, like smoking and drinking.
These can take their toll on the cardiovascular system, resulting in premature death.
A great way to break the boredom cycle is to step back and look at the big picture. Make lists of all the good in your life. as well as all the things you’ve wanted to try but never found the time and start from there.
Take control of your life and try to work your way around the things you cannot change. Form new, healthier habits.
Try something different each day. Volunteer your time to helping others who are in need.
And, above all, find something that piques your interest.
JohnK 5-27-2020
Overheard: “The two enemies of human happiness are pain and boredom”
~Arthur Schopenhauer
You Can Find Joy In Challenging Times
“There’s no joy in Mudville” is a line from the poem “Casey At The Bat.” Today there doesn’t seem to be joy anwhere in the world.
But GenuLines reminds you can build a foundation of joy, even in an age of social isolation.
(listen to this article by clicking on the radio image or scroll down to read)
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You Can Find Joy In Challenging Times
They are life’s ups and downs. A constant fluctuation of emotional highs and lows.
We spend most of our time in a rather even, mundane state of emotional normalcy.
This is broken up by peaks of the best times and unfortunately, valleys when nothing goes right.
The lows of everyday life are tough. But in times of crisis such as a worldwide pandemic, they only intensify.
Daily news of death, isolation, fear, grief, and loss can strip us of our joy. And, this can lead to depression.
While you can’t control what happens outside your door, you CAN control yourself. There are things you can do to maintain a positive and even joyful mindset.
Let’s look at three of them.
Surround Yourself With The Right People
It’s often said that we are the sum total of the five people we surround ourselves with most often. If so, make sure you get the right people around you.
Many times when life is beating us up, we retreat into the solitude of our home. We want to throw the covers over our heads and be alone with our thoughts.
Sometimes periods of solitude are healthy and necessary. Right now, isolation is the norm as we experience a health crisis.
But when you find your spirits cratering you feel robbed of your joy. So connecting with joyful types is crucial.
It’s not hard to stay connected to them during Shelter In Place orders. Technology has seen to that.
• Face Time on iPhones and Video calls on Android
• Skype
• A simple phone call
• Email
• Text
• Zoom and other video conferencing software can safely bring together friends and family.
• Good old-fashioned letter writing
Remember That Nothing Is Permanent
The time-honored adage says “THIS TOO SHALL PASS.” It would suggest that nothing in life is permanent.
So we tend to see extreme happiness and joy as temporary, and we play them down.
Yet keeping this expression in mind during the low times can be very beneficial. Whatever you’re going through, no matter how bad it may be, it WILL pass.
And consider this. Most of the difficult times you experience in life will end without any extra effort on your part.
It’s so easy to get into a mindset of having to put out a huge amount of effort to make something bad go away.
This is possible but most of the time TIME is the only remedy for tough situations. To maximize your joy in hard times, remember that your situation is not the way things are.
It’s the way they are RIGHT NOW.
Base Your Happiness On Yourself
So far we’ve discussed how life takes us through highs and lows. And that nothing lasts forever.
There’s one more thing to keep in mind during the best AND the worst periods.
To have more consistent joy never let your circumstances dictate your attitude.
Elation in good times and near despair during the bad can cause emotional exhaustion.
Stable, consistent, sustainable joy can only be created and found within yourself.
Life is far less about what happens to you than it is how you react to it.
You are in charge of how you feel. Don’t fall into the routine of letting happiness get to your head and failure to your heart.
JohnK 4-15-2020
Overheard: “Joy is untouched by circumstance” ~Anonymous
Article image by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
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