7 & 7: Energized vs. Bored

REFLECTION:

Boredom is man’s great fear, a succession of ordinary days and ordinary ways. It is common to be bored because idleness is often present and well accepted. Self-sufficiency fills time and benefits twice, once for the effort and once again for the work produced. Self-respect drives most to work. Profit is a pleasant and necessary by-product but not the primary instigator for most. Some appear idle, while deep in thought. They are our creators and their creations become clear with time. To be biased toward a pursuit is a welcome gift which offers pleasure and happiness. If the pursuit is of limited worth, the rewards to the impassioned player remain undeniable. Boredom is costly in productivity lost and as a depressant to society overall. It is the energetic who run the world. It is the fearful who are fatigued. Split your time between work and love and there will be little time left. If there is time left, fill it with walking. It is excellent exercise that is respectful of the body, mindful of the earth below, and well-tolerated by all ages.

MUSES:

A man can stand almost anything except a succession of ordinary days.

Goethe

Of all our faults, the one that we excuse most easily is idleness.

La Rochefoucauld

Chop your own wood and it will warm you twice.

(Carved on the cypress wood mantel in Henry Ford’s home – Fairlane)

Man works primarily for his own self-respect and not for others or for profit…the person who is working for the sake of his own satisfaction, the money he gets in return serves merely as fuel, that is, as a symbol of reward and recognition, in the analysis, of acceptance by one’s fellowmen.

Otto Rank

A man is not idle because he is absorbed in thought.

There is a visible labour and there is an invisible labour.

Victor Hugo

The high prize of life, the crowning fortune of man, is to be born with a bias to some pursuit which finds him employment and happiness.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm.

Colette

The most costly disease is not cancer or coronaries. The most costly disease is boredom – costly for both individual and society.

Norman Cousins

The world belongs to the energetic.

Ralph Waldo Emerson