Life will not always be exciting.
Life doesn’t have to be always exciting.
Ideas can change our day, week, month, year or our entire life.
Christmas is coming. 🎅🎄 🎁😉
Where ideas come from
While I may not have answers to all the questions, what I do have is a personal story that will both touch your heart and give you new inspiring ideas on boredom and its virtue.
I will share more about where ideas come from later in this story.
The following is a part of another story that talks about building leaders out of our children.
A personal story on boredom and creativity
Since age six, my son has been fascinated by airplanes and aerodynamics. He can’t get enough of their functionality. He wants to understand everything about how airplanes work.
At the time, his was fixated on landing gears. I wanted to challenge his problem solving skills as math was a subject he struggled with quite a bit. I realized that playing LEGO helps creative thinking, teamwork, communication, conflict resolution and problem-solving skills.
So I bought an age-appropriate and large LEGO airplane set. One summer afternoon we sat down to build the airplane with the blocks. Page by page, layer by layer, he used his visual spatial skills with my guidance and built the airplane. When putting together certain pieces became too challenging for him, I showed him how it was done, and then I undid it for him to reenact. Although the challenge was tiring for him, what motivated him was its culmination and the reward that awaited at the end of his hard work.
After two and a half hours of unwavering determination, he was one happy boy. I congratulated him on his achievement. He couldn’t wait to complete building the entire set, which would take another two or three hours. The boy had forgotten about hunger! He was adamant. With my hands on his sweet face, I told him, “We will. We don’t have to finish building everything today. Can I prepare lunch for us? Meanwhile, you can play with your airplane. We’ll continue building the set after lunch, okay?
He resigned reluctantly and impatiently.
He had boredom written all over his face. He lay his head on the table and toyed with his newly built airplane. I left him alone to play while I went to prepare a much delayed lunch for us.
After twenty-five minutes, I stepped out of the kitchen briefly to check on what he was up to. To my utter surprise, he had figured out how to manipulate one of the blocks to make the landing gear tilt upon landing his plane. Our eyes met.
The excitement of his little discovery beamed in his eyes. I matched his excitement, went on my knees, gave him a big hug and a kiss, and I asked him, “Do you know that you are a genius?”
Time has flown since then, and his ability to access his genius and surprise himself (and me) keeps unfolding in our experiences.
The value of quiet time
No TV. No devices or distractions. If you were born before the internet revolution took over the world, consider yourself very lucky. Today’s generation is have a hard time being without their smartphones.
I consciously kept my son away from television for up to age two. We delayed getting him a smartphone as much as we could. He started reading at age two. He picked up meditation as he watched me meditate. The benefits of undistracted quiet time are tremendous.
I say let your kids get bored. What they do in that time will become hobbies.
Hobbies are important for mental health
When people can’t manage boredom
If children are not allowed to get bored and have devices and distractions in their faces, paired with parents giving in due to impatience with children, it will result in children incapable of problem solving.
- Problem solving is an essential life skill.
- Patience is an important life skill and virtue.
- Boredom leads to creativity. Creativity brings personal happiness, solutions and fulfillment.
If you’d like to read more about creative play, please read this story by Nicole Dake titled Creative Play is Important for Children’s Mental Development
Creativity follows boredom
When you encounter problems in life, your creativity and healthy hobbies will help you overcome them.
It also helps you understand that life is not about one stimulating thing after another. There’s nothing wrong with boredom, which is a phase before creative ideas come into your awareness.
Image by iStockPhoto.com
Solutions come in the process of creating something… in the present moment.
Give your children the gift of problem solving this season.
…
Thank you for being here.
—
This post was previously published on medium.com.
***
You may also like these posts on The Good Men Project:
White Fragility: Talking to White People About Racism | Escape the “Act Like a Man” Box | The Lack of Gentle Platonic Touch in Men’s Lives is a Killer | What We Talk About When We Talk About Men |
—
Photo credit: iStockPhoto.com