Stories & Boredom...

One of my favorite songs growing up was "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers. It starts like this:

"On warm summer's evening on a train bound for nowhere I met up with the Gambler...we were both too tired to speak. So we took turns at staring out the window at the darkness until the boredom overtook us and we began to speak."

I love that line...the entire thing grabs me and makes me want to hear the rest of the story! This leads me to my next thoughts on "rest."

First, stories are a great way to "escape" for a while. I just finished the last Harry Potter book...it was a 6 month, 3000 page visit into the world of muggles, horcrux's, flying cars and friendships. The books, while I read them, ruined my sleep patterns for weeks on end; but the story was gripping and I found myself feeling well rested for reading them.

Similarly, what is it we do before bedtime with children all around the world? We read them a story! And, if you think about it, they go to bed and have dreams that are...stories (of a sort). I'm going to embrace stories as a means to rest better.

Second, boredom is something that can completely "overtake" us. Boredom is painful for those not used to it...after basic training I had nightmares about standing in line for hours on end that were so severe I would wake up shaking in the middle of the night! I think that the fear of boredom keeps me from settling down into a lifestyle of rest. To avoid being bored I create unnecessary stress that complicates my life and exasperates my relationships.

Being bored is not a bad thing. I'm certain that Magellan and his crew were bored at some point while circling the globe in a sailboat; Isaac Newton was very likely bored for hours on end while putting together his theory of the Laws of Motion...he was sitting under an apple tree doing what? Resting.

I hope this blog entry has not bored you. I tried to make it interesting by adding a story or two! May you have a boring, story-filled day!