7 Signs You’re Living a Boring Life

Did you know I was an only child?

I sometimes wish I was spoiled, but I wasn’t. My mom was on a mission to ensure I never was – and often took it to an extreme. In any event, even though I was an only child, I grew up with 9 boys (my “cousins”). I saw them every day before and after school and on weekends. They taught me how to share and how to play tough, and made me always play Princess Leia when I really  wanted to be Darth Vader (no one else wanted to play a”girl”). But still, there were many, many  times when I was bored.

Bored out of my fu*king mind.

So bored, in fact, that I would cover my face with my pillow and cry. I remember vowing one night that once I was out of the house, I would do my absolute best to not ever be bored again.  And for the most part, I took that to an extreme;)

But there are still times I still found that feeling creeping up on me!  Some moments that pop into mind are:

:: when I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area for graduate school and found myself going from living out of my Volvo station wagon and sleeping under the stars, to sitting more than ever  inside concrete buildings and only seeing stars through a small, triangular window in my tiny urban room.

:: after I had my baby – and being freakin’ exhausted  seemed like a good enough excuse to talk myself out of doing anything  half-way interesting

:: when I got my first full-time job as a midwife, and my vacation time went from months off each year to just a few weeks…I found some similarities in all these instances and wanted to share them with you.

I tell you – it creeps up on you and you don’t want to be caught sleeping when it does! Here are some tips to help you bypass boredom so you don’t get side-swiped by it like I did:

7 SIGNS YOU’RE AT RISK OF LIVING A BORING LIFE

1) It takes you a really long time to get out of bed  – because there’s no really good reason for you to hop out and carpe the dang diem  anyway!

2) Watching TV or movies is the #1 way you spend your free time.  This could mean that you are busy watching other people’s interesting lives instead of getting out there and living your own. Exception: the occasional guilty pleasure series marathons with friends or lovers 😉

3) You are jealous. A lot.  Jealousy is a sign of desire.  It’s not a “bad” feeling or a sign that you are some kind of corrupted person. It means you want  something. When you’re living a kickass life, you are jealous way less often. This is because you either compare yourself to others way less, or you are living a life you really, really  like. When you’re not living a live you  love, you get jealous of other people who are – or who at least seem like it.

4) You spy on people via Facebook or other social media – and rarely post.  This is almost like spending too much time watching TV/movies. You were put on this gorgeous planet to experience it and DIVE IN!

You were put here to feel wind on your skin and the dizzying drop of your insides when you swoop down on a swing or rollercoaster (yes I still LOVE swings!), to dip into the chilly waters of an alpine lake, to have epic  orgasms and accidentally step into cow poop while wandering market streets in India, to wake up with the moonlight shining brightly on your face, to laugh deep deep belly laughs with your friends. Not to scroll down a screen watching other people do it.

5) You have crappy sleep.  A day well-lived is one where you collapse into bed tired and content. You’ve exercised, you’ve gotten done what you wanted to get done, and you feel a satisfaction that a life well-lived gives you. And you sleep deeply because dang, a life like that needs it!

6) You don’t feel sexy.  Sexy is more than something you feel in your body. In fact, that is the smallest part of sexy. Feeling sexy is mostly about how you perceive yourself. And you know yourself best, sistah. You can’t lie to yourself about if you’re living your best life. You know the truth. When you are doing cool shit, you hold your head high, you’re not afraid to talk to people because you want to tell them what you’ve been up to, and you strut your shizzle. Living an exciting life is absolutely the best ingredient for sexy.

7) You don’t have any energy and may be sporting the Boredom Belly.  If you’re like me, when you’re bored, you eat emotionally, and this is usually food that isn’t the best for maximizing your Thrive. It’s usually stuff like carbs or sugars or heavy, poorquality fats or salts. These all sap your energy and you end up pooped as a result. You may even have the Boredom Belly, as I like to call it – belly fat is associated with stress and high-carb eating, among other things also associated with a boring life.

Can you recognize yourself in any of these? No worries, amiga! I’ve got some ideas for you to turn that train around:

:: Do a cleanse  – this will give you something to focus on other than other people’s Facebook profiles, and will up your energy factor so you can more easily get out there and start having some amazing experiences! It’s a great way to kickstart your mind and body. Click here for more reasons  to uplevel your body-mind connection.

:: Unplug  – When you don’t have the distraction of watching other people’s lives, and when you also suddenly have more hours in the day to do cool shit, there is way more possibility to bring excitement back into your life.

:: Try something new every day.  When you break habits – even things as simple as eating something different for lunch, driving a different way to work, reading a new magazine – your brain is primed for new experiences and is more likely to be comfortable with change . Which means you’ll more easily step out of your boring patterns, and be way more likely to do some new cool shizzle

:: Plan an adventure.  This doesn’t have to be a trip with your family to a politically unstable country with a fuel crisis and food shortage like the trip I took with my hubby and baby a couple of years ago. It could really be as simple as going out to a nearby lake at night, and sitting at it’s edge watching the stars and moon reflected on the surface; or going to visit a part of town you’ve never been to: ever had a Korean spa experience in your local Korea Town? Ever smelled the spices and sundries or stared at the dried bodies of various reptiles in the apothecaries of China Town? Take an intro Capoiera class, or ride your bike around town and simply get lost.

Those are just a few ideas.

The point is, it takes effort to have an adventurous life.  It doesn’t just happen. If you wait for sh*t to happen, it won’t. So you need to commit to it.

We have a big trip coming up to the Philippines, via Thailand. I don’t feel like going. I’m tired. I’m in the middle of a HUGE launch. I have tons of videos to record and a shit-ton of work to do ahead of time since I know internet will be unreliable a lot of the time.

I know…small problems in the scheme of things, but the point is I don’t want to go right now. But I know how committed to adventure we are, so I bought tickets anyway. Once I’m there, I always am so glad we decided to take a trip. Sort of like working out – I’m rarely in the mood, but always glad I did it once I’m going.

 If you don’t want to be bored, you need to commit ahead of time . Plan things. Book things. Know you won’t be in the mood – but do it anyway. If you waited until you were in the mood, chances are, other things will take priority.

But the trick is that when you prioritize adventure, the other things still end up being taken care of  – they just wiggle their way into the nooks and crannies of your life, between the adventures.

So go ahead – commit to the adventure. To not being bored.

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If you want to join a tribe of people that will help you navigate this wild and precious life, come check out Freedom School – for rebels like you. It’s not just personal growth for rebels. It’s Jedi training for the new world.