by Paul Gamble

Created on: September 04, 2010

Your food remains sitting in the microwave for over ten minutes. Your computer has been powered on, probably in an attempt to remain busy by doing one of the many on-line activities you do on a day-to-day basis. You, however, are sitting on the couch; looking at your movie rack from across the room. Boredom can strike someone in nearly any form. For the more active, you might be constantly going out to the busier areas of town - sometimes doing things you might later regret. For others it might be simply a statement you tell yourself or your friends every now and again. We can all agree that boredom exists in every ones life, but how boredom effects every ones life is up to the individual themselves.

"Boredom" is a word you will read a countless number of times during research into criminology and the criminal psyche. An article geared towards preventing crime through boredom management in Bronx, NY states that, "boredom may be accompanied by anxiety, apathy, irritability, or lethargy" (http://local.soberrecovery.com/Boredom_Management_Br onx_NY-r1298670-Bronx_NY.html). Boredom is often a key player in outbursts of a large spectrum of other emotions such as defiance, rage, laziness, etc. People that find themselves "running up the walls" with boredom at home will sometimes not have an urge to go out into the unknown, but rather a need for what they do know to be somehow better or more intriguing. Depending on a person's own predisposition, boredom could lead to a positive (or negative) attempt to better ones own situation, a major and sometimes unexpected or frightening change in lifestyle, depression ranging from the most minuscule to the most overwhelming, and many other situations that might not seem directly related to boredom whatsoever.

This chameleon of an emotion, boredom, can strike a person in a crowd or by themselves and it can almost never truly be approached with caution. Someone might enjoy something one day and find themselves filled with boredom the next. Similarly, someone might find themselves surprisingly entertained if forced to do something they assumed would lead to boredom. Some people ultimately put themselves in the hands of god through religion as a result of boredom; although not the most noble cause, it's still far from the worst road boredom can lead you down. Still, the majority of people will not have any sort of miraculous story or change that they will credit towards boredom.

Stepping back from reality, one could label boredom as a choice or a certain style you can live by. Solving it seems simple enough; you work with what you have and find things that you enjoy most or will benefit you the most. This is something that comes naturally to most people but those same people will still find themselves bored doing the things they decided they wanted to busy themselves with. Confusing a lack of excitement with boredom can sometimes be a dreadful mistake if acted on. Likewise, sometimes behind the slight sense of boredom you have could lay a real need for change being masked by your comfort.

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