Boredom: It Doesn't Have To Be That Way

Are you in a routine that seemingly stays the same on an almost daily basis? You get up and go to work, eat lunch, come home and have dinner, watch television and go to bed. It's the same old same old day in and day out. Every now and then you might go out to a restaurant but when it's over you can look forward to what happens on Monday and there you go again. I'm going through the same routine. I slide out of bed, look at the computer while throwing down five of six cups of joe, go to the golf course, come home and look at the computer, watch Cavuto and The Five on Fox, eat dinner, watch TV then off to bed. And really, there's no excuse for this because I'm retired and can do whatever, whenever. If you put this scenario on a global scale it would be the same on the other side of the planet. In China, for instance, Chin goes to the rice field, picks stalks, goes home, does nothing then he'll hit the hay. So, what I've been doing today is to think about life when it wasn't so tedious. There had to be times in our lives when we stood out in a crowd and our actions created a memory that lasted for a long time or forever. It could be funny or sad but it'll last a lifetime. Maybe when we were kids and looked upon by our pals after we did something out of the ordinary. For instance, when I was twelve and playing my last Little League game I cracked a pitch off of a Terry Sparks fastball that cleared the double decker fence in centerfield at Jimmy Archer Field. The sad part is I still remember everything about that moon shot and it's been 54 years since it happened. I'll bet, at the time, that fence was four hundred feet high. For me it was a shot like that came off the bat of Roy Hobbs in The Natural. Each and every one of you has done something in your life that made you stand out from the crowd; something you did that was legendary and would live forever; either in your group or your own mind. When I was a junior in college and a member of Sigma Nu fraternity I was selected to be our social chairman. Being that I wasn't a scholar and put a C- effort into my studies I knew I had found my niche. My selection put a tremendous amount of pressure on my social skills. I wanted every party to outdo the previous one. It was 1966 and I came  up with party ideas that would put Delta House from Animal House to shame. Sigma Nu became my own personal Animal House but with higher expectations. When the school year was over I reveled in my new found fame. I became a party legend and hero. Since every office was a one year appointment I knew my successor would be under the gun to perform. When we members of Sigma Nu came back for the Fall of '67 and had our first meeting I was shocked and elated to learn that the fraternity by-laws had been changed to  to accommodate MJ Hawkeye. The office of Social Chairman was the only office where the one year selection had been eliminated. By applause and a show of hands yours truly was unanimously reappointed to the position God meant for me to own. See what I mean about standing out from the crowd. It's exhilarating to be recognized. I became a legend in my own mind.
Often times standing out from the crowd isn't a positive but you can still become legendary. My closest friends know a personal story about me and now you will, too. In 2002 I was attending a company meeting in Rock Island, Illinois. We were staying at a LaQuinta Motel in Moline, Illinois. At 1:30 AM I got up to go to the bath room. As I exited the bath I made a right turn; should have gone left. Well, there I was in all my glory standing in a motel hallway with the door to room 222 locked shut. "Hmmm", I thought, "what to do now"? I had two choices, I could knock on the door next to me and ask the occupant to throw out a towel or, and this is the one I did, I could sneak downstairs to the front door, hide behind a fir tree and ring the buzzer to explain my situation. My choice was to do the latter. It was the wrong move on my part. The lady behind the counter had been flashed the night before and her 911 call had the police on top of me in about fifteen seconds. Going to jail at two in the morning is one of those situations we'd all like to forget but, thankfully, having a friend on the force cleared things up in a hurry. It pays to know people especially under great duress. Regardless, I was legendary among my sales brethren.
Think about your own lives to rid yourselves of the yolk of boredom. Come up with ideas and memories that make you stand out from the crowd. God put us on this earth not to be bored but to experiment and enjoy. The lesson in all this is, keep your door lock if you're in a motel, maybe a light on, or, at the very least, wear pajamas. Of course, if I'd have worn the pajamas this story would have meant  diddly squat.