BY THE TIME IT IS THURSDAY OUT HERE in the Gulf or Friday elsewhere in the world, “plans for the weekend” would have fallen in place for millions worldwide. For many, the weekend is specially reserved to do all the things that they could not have accomplished during week days such as “weekend laundry”, “weekend chores”, “weekend reading”, “weekend time with family and friends” and of course “weekend entertainment!”
DESPITE THE INTENSITY OF OUR INVOLVEMENT in one activity or another, there are days when we feel relatively depressed, when the “tyranny of routine” numbs us into ennui. This becomes more pronounced when, at times, our normal avenues for weekend entertainment do not sufficiently interest us – there is no film worth viewing or a play worth watching or a concert worth attending, for example. That is the time when we should hold the bull of boredom by its horns and refuse ourselves from succumbing to aimless depression. That is the time when we should ask ourselves every possible question : when was the last time we listened to our own music collection ? Visited an old friend ? Made that call conveying our congratulations long overdue ? Or apologized to a person whom we offended unnecessarily ? Walked briskly for an hour at least or worked out in the gym ? Cooked a favorite dish ? Spring cleaned our homes ? Read that particular book which we always wanted to read ? Wrote our wills ? And as that memorable Emirates airline ad used to tease us often not so long ago : when was the last time we did something for the first time ? The questions are infinite and would have a million variations depending entirely on where we are and what we do. Yet, if we have taken the trouble of implementing the answers to these questions seriously, we have pretty much conquered boredom.
NEEDLESS TO ADD, IF WE HAVE ENOUGH ON OUR HANDS to do and accomplish we will probably never have to confront the beast of boredom (although we may to grapple with other questions) and the lament we may probably harbor then is why does a day have only twenty four hours !
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