When Passion Gets Boring

Some time ago, I attended a meditation camp. Now, before I continue, I must make it clear  that I am not someone who meditates on a regular basis. It was just by chance that I attended the camp. The teacher there, a sanyasi, said something very interesting.

He told us that even after years of practice, he himself sometimes found meditating difficult, and felt like giving it all up. This confession seemed strange to me, because I had always assumed that such feelings belonged to the amateurs, not the experts.

When we meet experts, it is only natural to assume that they thoroughly enjoy what they do, and that they never get bored of it. But, more often than not, that is not true. It is only human to get bored of things. The trick is to find ways and means to stay passionate about things you love even through the periods of ennui.

Always remember the early days. The first time of everything is memorable. It may not always be great, but it is always memorable. So, remembering the time when you discovered what you were passionate about, and the joy you felt in doing the thing, can help rekindle the flame and help you get out of the state of listlessness that you may have fallen into.

Make it a habit. Man, they say, is a creature of habit. If you make a habit out of your passion, you are bound to stick to it. From personal experience I can assure you that once you have made habit out of something, it won’t be easy to break it. Even good habits are as hard to break as the bad ones, and I am sure we all have that one bad habit that we have been trying to quit for ages, but are not able to. That tells us something about the power of the habit.

Incorporate related activities into your daily schedule. When the teacher told us that he too found it difficult to meditate at times, he also gave us a solution to the problem. He told us that he and his friends had devised a way to incorporate meditation into everything they did. From having a bath in the morning to having their dinner at night, they had somehow incorporated meditation related activities into everything. This ensured that their mind was never too far away from their first love. This, to me, seems like a powerful way to ensure that you stick to your passion. If you can manage to incorporate your passion into your daily schedule, you will never get too far from it.

Find people with passion similar to yours. The world has six billion people in it, and most of them have their own sets of likes and dislikes. If you regularly keep meeting people who have an opinion that is entirely different from yours, sooner or later, you are bound to question your beliefs. It is this reason why we feel most comfortable among people from our society and culture, because we share a set of beliefs and values, and thus these never or rarely get challenged. We feel sure about what we know, and thus we feel sure about the decisions we take, and the way we lead our lives. Similarly, if we surround ourselves with people who share our passion, it is easier to remind ourselves what we love to do. In times of self-doubt, these people can be our pillars of strength, and help us regain our love for what we want to do. In the absences of such people we may drift farther and farther away from our true passion, and in the end forget about it completely.

What do you do when you get bored of doing what you are passionate about?

(Image courtesy: melodi2 from sxc.hu)